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PRINCETON,    N.    J. 


*S, 


Presented  by  Mr  Samuel  Agnew  of  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


Agnezv  Coil,  on  Baptism,  No. 


It-,.-..-.  ^- 

SERMONS 


ON 


VARIOUS  SUBJECTS 


AND 


OCCASIONS. 


BY  GEORGE  STANLEY  FABER,  B.D. 

RECTOR    OF    LONG-NEWTON. 


VOLUME  I- 


PHILADELPHM  .- 

PRINTED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  M.  CAREY  &  SON, 

No.  126,  Chesnut  Street. 

July  25,  1817. 


TO    THE 

RIGHT  REVEREND  THOMAS  BURGESS,  D.D. 

LORD  BISHOP  OF  ST.  DAVID'S, 
AS    A    TOKEN    OF    UNFEIGNED    RESPECT 

roR   AN 
EMINENTLY  PIOUS  AND  VIGILANT 

RULER 

IN  THE  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST, 

THESE  SERMONS 

ARE  INSCRIBED  BY 

HIS  OBEDIENT  AND  OBLIGED 

HUMBLE  SERVANT 

THE  AUTHOR. 


PREFACE. 


THE  Sermons  here  offered  to  the  Public,  have 
been  written  at  various  intervals  and  on  various 
occasions,  in  the  course  of  the  last  twelve  years. 
In  order  that  there  might  be  as  much  coherence 
between  them  as  possible,  and  that  they  might 
not  seem  to  stand  altogether  detached  from  each 
other,  I  endeavoured  to  arrange  them  in  strings 
according  to  the  several  subjects  of  which  they 
treat.  The  first  volume  contains  one  of  such 
strings :  and,  in  each  of  them,  the  drift  of  the 
author's  argument  would  appear  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage, if  the  Sermons  should  be  read  exactly 
in  the  order  of  their  collocation. 

It  may  be  proper  to  remark,  that  the  substance 
of  the  last  Sermon  in  the  first  volume  was  ori- 
ginally, in  the  year  1804,  printed  in  the  form  of 
a  pamphlet.  The  unreserved  commendation 
bestowed  upon  it  while  in  that  shape  by  the  late 
Bp.  Horsley,  in  terms  which  the  author  is  alike 
unable  either  to  forget  or  to  specify,  induced 
him  to  model  anew  the  whole  discussion :  and, 
although  by  this  process  the  first  draught  is  very 
materially  altered,  not  only  in  point  of  arrange- 
ment, but  likewise  by  numerous  additions  and 
excisions ;  yet,  as  eleven  years  have  now  passed 


VI  PREFACE. 

over  his  head  since  its  original  publication,  he  is 
willing  to  hope,  that  the  Sermon  would  not  have 
been  more  unworthy  of  that  great  man's  impri- 
matur,  had  his  valuable  life  been  spared  to  the 
present  hour,  than  the  pamphlet  whence  it  ema- 
nated. 

In  mentioning  this  circumstance,  I  may  very 
possibly  incur  the  imputation  of  vanity :  but  it  is 
of  no  great  consequence.  Much  as  I  have  rea- 
son to  be  grateful  to  my  venerable  and  excellent 
diocesan  for  the  successive  unsolicited  marks  of 
approbation  which  I  have  received  from  him  ;  I 
can  never  cease  to  remember,  with  a  feeling  of 
peculiar  though  melancholy  pleasure,  the  equal- 
ly unsolicited  friendship,  with  which  in  my 
younger  days  I  was  honoured  by  an  illustrious 
theologian  now  gone  to  his  reward.  In  the  so- 
briety of  middle  age,  I  trust  I  am  animated  by  a 
somewhat  better  and  more  composed  spirit,  than 
what  might  be  excited  by  the  laiidari  a  laudato 
viro.  Whether  in  the  study  of  theology  or  in 
the  discussion  of  prophecy,  I  never  encounter- 
ed a  man  with  whose  views  I  could  more  gene- 
rally symbolize  than  the  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph. 

I  think  it  right  to  state,  that  my  visitation  ser- 
mon before  the  Bishop  of  Durham,  which  oc- 
curs in  the  second  volume,  was  very  greatly 
shortened  in  the  delivery. 

Long'Nexvton^  Dec,  18, 18i5. 


POSTSCRIPT. 


Perhaps  it  may  not  be  inexpedient  to  state, 
that  the  four  Sermons  on  Regeneration,  which 
occur  in  the  first  volume,  were  written  before  the 
commencement  of  the  present  controversy  on 
that  subject,  and  therefore  before  I  had  read  the 
compositions  of  those  authors  who  have  recent- 
ly embarked  in  it  on  either  side  of  the  question. 
My  own  opinion  was  first  briefly  set  forth  many 
years  ago  in  my  Bampton's  Lectures :  and  I  have 
not  as  yet  met  with  any  thing,  which  has  given 
me  the  least  reason  to  suspect  its  erroneousness. 
This  opinion  I  afterwards  at  my  leisure  drew 
out  and  defended  at  large  :  nor  could  the  discus- 
sion be  comprehended  within  a  narrower  space, 
than  that  of  four  long  sermons.  As  my  sole  ob- 
ject is  truth,  should  I  ever  feel  myself  to  be  ma- 
nifestly confuted  in  argument,  I  trust  that  I  shall 
never  hesitate  in  acknowledging  myself  to  have 
been  mistaken  :  but,  with  respect  to  what  I  have 
hitherto  read  on  the  subject,  I  am  constrained  to 
say,  that  the  opinion,  which  is  opposite  to  my 
own,  does  not  appear  to  rest  even  upon  the 
shadow  of  a  foundation.  At  all  events  however 
we  may  be  sure,  that  the  interests  of  truth  can 
never  fail  to  be  promoted  by  discussion. 

April  23,  1816. 


>; 


>^: 


CONTENTS. 


SERMON  I. 

THE    UNIVERSAL    PROFITABLENESS    OF     SCRIPTURE. 

2  Tim.  iii.  16,  17. 

PAGE 

All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God ;  and  is 
profitable  for  doctrine^  for  reproof  for  correction^ 
for  instruction  in  righteousness  :  that  the  man  of 
God  may  be  perfect^  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all 
good  works. 

Preached  as  a  collation  Sermon  in  the  parish  Church 
of  Stockton-upon-Tees,  June  30,  1805 1 

SERMON  11. 

god's  JUSTICE  EXEMPLIFIED   IN   THE   ATONE- 
MENT   OF    CRRIST. 

Rom.  iii.  23—26. 

All  have  sinned,  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God  ; 
being  justified  freely  by  his  grace  through  the  re- 
demption that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  whom  God  hath 
set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith  in  his 
blood,  to  declare  his  righteousness  fr  the  remission 
of  sins  that  are  past,  through  the  forbearance  of 
God  ;  to  declare,  I  say,  at  this  time  his  righteous- 
ness :  that  he  might  be  Just,  and  the  justifier  of 
him  which  believeth  in  Jesus. 

Preached  before  the  Hon.  and  Right  Rev.  Shute 
Barrington,  Bishop  of  Durham,  Count-Palatine, 
and  the  Hon.  Judges  Chambre  and  Graham,  at 
the  Assizes  holden  at  Durham,  August  22, 1810.     19 
Faber     1 


X  CONTENTS, 

SERMON   III. 

THE    DOCTRINE    OF    JUSTIFICATION. 

Rom.  viii.  33,  34. 

fVho  shall  lay  any  thing  to  the  charge  ofGod^s  elect  ? 
It  is  God  that  justijieth  :  xvho  is  he  that  condem- 
neth  ? 

Preached  before  the  worshipful  Archdeacon  Prosser 
and  the  Rev.  the  Clergy  of  the  southern  archdea- 
conry of  Durham,  at  the  visitation  holden  at  the 
South  Church,  Auckland,  July  5,  1809 43 

SERMON  IV, 

THE    DOCTIIINE     OF    S  ANC  TIFIC  ATION. 

Heb.  xii,  14, 
Follow  holiJiesSj   xvithout  which  no  man    shall  see 
the  JLord , 75 

SERMON  V. 

THE    DOCTRINE    OF  REGENERATION,  ACCORDING   TO 
SCRIPTURE  AND  THE   CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND, 

RoM.  ji.  28,  29, 
He  is  not  a  Jew,  which  is  one  outwardly  ;  neither  is 
that  circumcision,  which  is  outward  in  the  jlesh  : 
but  he  is  a  Jew,  which  is  one  inwardly  ;  and  cir- 
cumcision is  that  of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit,  and 
not  in  the  letter,  whose  praise  is  not  of  men,  but  of 
God 112 

SERMON  VI, 

THE   DOCTRINE    OF  REGENERATION,  ACCORDING   TO 
SCRIPTURE   AND  THE    CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND. 

Rom.  ii.  28,  29. 
ile  is  not  a  Jew,  which  is  one  outxvardly  ;  neither  is 
that  circumcision,  which  is  outward  in  t/je  Jlesh  / 


CONTENTS.  XI 

but  he  is  a  Jew^  which  is  one  inwardly  ;  and  cir- 
cumcisioji  is  that  of  the  hearty  in  the  spirit^  and 
not  in  the  letter  ;  whose  praise  is  not  qfmen^  hut  of 
God 153 

SERMON  VII. 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF    REGENERATION,    ACCORDING  TO 
SCRIPTURE   AND   THE  CHURCH   OF  ENGLAND. 

RoM.  ii.  28,  29. 
He  is  not  a  Jew^  which  is  one  outwardly  ;  neither  is 
that  circumcision,  which  is  outward  in  the  jlesh  ; 
but  he  is  a  Jew,  which  is  one  inwardly  ;  atid  cir- 
cumcision is  that  of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit,  and 
not  in  the  letter  ;  tvhose  praise  is  not  of  men,  but 
of  God 192 

SERMON  VIII. 

THE    DOCTRINE  OF    REGENERATION,  ACCORDING   TO 
SCRIPTURE   AND   THE   CHURCH   OF   ENGLAND. 

Rom.  ii.  28,  29. 

He  is  not  a  Jew,  which  is  one  outwardly  ;  neither  is 
that  circumcision,  which  is  outward  in  the  flesh  ; 
but  he  is  a  Jew,  which  is  one  inwardly  ;  and  cir- 
cumcision is  that  of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit,  and 
not  in  the  letter  ;  whose  praise  is  not  of  men  but  of 

God 236 

SERMON  IX. 

THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

Matt,  xxviii.  19,  20. 
Go  ye  therefore  and  teach  all  nations;  baptizing 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
andof  the  Holy  Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  observe 


XU  CONTENTS. 

all  things  whatsoever  I  have  co7nmanded  you  ; 
and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world 294 

SERMON  X. 

THE    PREDESTINARIAN    CONTROVERSY. 

1  Thessal.  V.  21. 

Prove  all  things  :  holdfast  tliat  which  is  good  ...    354 


SERMON  I. 


THE  UNIVERSAL  PROFITABLENESS  OF 
SCRIPTURE. 


S  TIM.    III.    16,    17. 

^4ll  Scripture  is  giveji  by  inspiration  of  God ;  and  is  pro- 
jitahle  for  doctrine^  for  reproof  for  correction^  for  in- 
struction in  righteousness  :  that  the  man  of  God  may 
be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works. 


IN  this  brief  yet  most  comprehensive  passage, 
St.  Paul  at  once  sets  before  Timothy  the  divine 
origination  and  the  high  practical  importance  of 
Holy  Scripture. 

He  begins  with  solemnly  calling  his  attention 
to  it ;  for  he  observes,  that  the  sacred  volume  is 
all  given  hy  inspiration  of  God.  It  is  therefore 
no  cunningly  devised  fable  of  men,  no  inge- 
nious theory,  vs^hich  may  be  admitted  or  rejected 
at  pleasure,  no  system  of  mere  human  ethics, 
enforced  only  by  a  mortal  legislator :  but  it  is 

Faher.     s 


^  The  Universal  Profitableness 

the  word  of  God  to  fallen  man,  the  word  of  the 
Most  High  to  his  rebellious  subjects,  the  word 
of  an  infallible  lawgiver,  the  word  of  essential 
Truth  itself.  It  speaks,  as  having  a  right  to  de- 
mancl  our  attention :  it  dictates,  as  having  un- 
deniable authority.  For  shall  God  condescend 
to  speak ;  and  shall  not  man  attend  ?  Shall  the 
Lord  of  heaven  and  earth  teach  the  road  to 
everlasting  happiness  ;  and  shall  man  refuse  to 
become  a  learner  f  Surely  it  is  at  once  our  boun- 
den  duty  and  our  highest  privilege  humbly  to  lis- 
ten to  the  behests  of  Heaven,  to  acquaint  our- 
selves with  God  as  he  stands  revealed  in  his  own 
word,  to  inquire  what  he  would  have  us  to  do, 
and  thus,  on  the  only  possible  solid  grounds,  to 
be  at  peace. 

St.  Paul,  having  authoritatively  claimed  the 
attention  of  Timothy  by  urging  the  divine  inspi- 
ration of  Scripture,  proceeds  to  inform  him  in 
what  respects  it  is  profitable.  The  points,  which 
he  specifies,  are  four  in  number :  it  is  profitable 
for  doctrine^  for  reproof  for  correction^  and  for 
instruction  in  righteousness.  These  matters  be- 
ing laid  down,  the  Apostle  then  adds,  by  way  of 
summary  and  application  of  the  whole,  that  it 
was  given,  in  order  that  the  man  of  God  might  be 
perfect^  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  zvorks. 

In  discussing  the  present  subject  more  at  large, 
I  cannot  do  better  than  follow  the  order  which 


of  Scripture,  3 

St.  Paul  himself  has  marked  out.  And  I  have 
the  rather  chosen  such  a  subject,  because  it  gives 
me  an  opportunity  of  stating  both  the  doctrines 
and  the  practice,  which  I  shall  hereafter  feel  my- 
self bound  in  conscience  to  inculcate  among 
you.  Not  indeed  that  I  conceive  you  ignorant 
either  of  the  one  or  of  the  other.  Such  a  sup- 
position w^ould  equally  reflect  upon  the  labours 
of  my  worthy  predecessor,*  and  upon  your  own 
use  of  the  means  of  grace.  But  the  misfortune 
is,  that  we  all  know  much  more  than  we  are  in- 
clined to  practice.  Hence  the  ministers  of  the 
Gospel  have  occasion  to  add  line  upon  line,  and 
precept  upon  precept :  and  hence  it  will  be  my 
duty  unceasingly  to  exhort  you  to  continue  in 
the  things  which  you  have  learned  and  have  been 
assured  of,  knowing  of  whom  you  have  learned 
them;  ajid  that,  from  children,  you  have  known 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  are  able  to  make  you 
wise  unto  salvation  through  faith,  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus. \ 

I.  As  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God, 
for  the  information  of  man.  we  may  be  sure  that 
it  will  be  profitable /or  doctrine. 

The  Bible  however  not  being  written  in  a 
scholastic  form,  it  has  been  found  expedient  by 
perhaps  every  Church,  to  bring  together  into  a 

*  The  Rev.  John  Brewster,  now  Rector  of  EgglescliiFe. 
f  2  Tim.  iii.   14,  15. 


4*  The  Universal  Profitableness 

regular  summary  the  leading  points  which  we 
are  required  to  believe,  that  so  they  may  be 
easily  referred  to  and  distinctly  understood. 
No  sound  Church  indeed  wishes  to  impose  any 
such  summary  on  the  consciences  of  its  mem- 
bers, further  than  as  it  may  be  proved  by  most 
certain  warrant  of  Holy  Writ  :  yet,  when  the 
summary  is  set  forth,  it  becomes  our  duty  to 
attend  to  it,  and  to  compare  it  diligently  with 
Scripture,  that  we  may  see  how  they  tally  to- 
gether. 

The  xxxix  Articles  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land constitute  a  summary  of  this  description. 
These  Articles  you  have  just  heard  read  :  and, 
as  I  have  declared  before  you  my  unfeigned  as- 
sent and  consent  to  them,  which  in  truth  I  do 
with  a  hearty  good  will ;  T  may  from  them  brief- 
ly state  to  you  the  doctrines,  which  are  tauglit 
in'  Scripture,  and  which  are  peculiarly  profitable 
for  man  in  his  present  state.  Afterwards  let  it 
be  your  business  to  search  your  Bibles,  and  judge 
from  them  whether  these  things  be  so  indeed. 
For  do  not  imagine,  as  some  almost  appear  to 
do,  that  the  clergy  in  the  way  of  their  profes- 
sion are  alone  concerned  with  the  great  truths 
of  Christianity,  and  that  the  laity  need  trouble 
themselves  very  little  about  the  matter,  simply 
because  they  are  laity.  This  is  a  gross  mis- 
take :  I  fear  indeed  I  may  say  a  tvilful  mistake  ,• 


ef  Scriptwe,  5 

which  many  fall  into  with  alacrity,  hoping  that 
they  may  thus  escape  the  awful  responsibility 
of  creatures  in  a  state  of  probation.  But  do 
not  deceive  yourselves.  The  clergy  are  merely 
your  helpers  and  spiritual  advisers.  Religion, 
in  all  its  bearings,  is  a  strictly  personal  matter. 
Though  it  is  not  your  business  to  minister  in 
holy  things  :  it  is  your  business,  quite  as  much 
as  it  is  the  business  of  the  clergy,  so  to  acquaint 
yourselves  with  the  Gospel  as  to  be  able  to  give 
a  satisfactory  account  both  of  your  faith  and 
your  practice.  As  no  one  can  perish  everlast- 
ingly by  proxy  :  so,  you  may  depend  upon  it, 
no  one  ever  was,  or  ever  will  be,  or  ever  can 
be,  saved  by  proxy. 

1.  The  basis,  on  which  rests  the  whole  of 
Christianity,  is  the  scriptural  doctrine,  that  we 
are  very  far  gone  from  original  righteousness, 
and  that  we  are  inclined  by  nature  to  evil :  inso- 
much that  we  cannot  turn  and  prepare  ourselves 
by  our  own  physical  strength  and  good  v/orks 
to  faith  and  calling  upon  God ;  but  that,  by  rea- 
son of  our  manifold  sins  both  original  and  ac- 
tual, we  all  justly  deserve  God's  wrath  and  dam- 
nation.* 

2.  Such  being  the  case,  how  shall  we  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come  ? 

*  Art,  ix,  X. 


6  The  Universal  Profitableness 

The  answer  is  afforded  in  Scripture  :  Believe 
in  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved.* 

3.  But  how  are  we  to  beUeve  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  ;  since  we  are  assui'ed,  that  we  cannot 
turn  ourselves  to  faith  and  caUing  upon  God  ? 

The  answer  again  is  ready  :  Though  we  have 
no  power  to  do  good  works  pleasant  and  accept- 
able to  God  WITHOUT  the  grace  of  God  by  Christ 
preventing  us,  that  we  may  have  a  good  will,  and 
working  with  us  ivhen  we  have  that  good  will  ; 
yet  WITH  the  grace  of  God,  which  will  never  be 
refused  to  earnest  and  persevering  prayer,  we 
may  have  both  the  will  and  the  power  to  believe 
and  to  do  good  works.  The  Holy  Trinity  have 
covenanted  from  all  eternity  :  the  Father,  to  ac- 
cept the  meritorious  sacrifice  of  the  Son ;  the 
Son,  to  take  our  nature  upon  him  and  to  offer 
himself  up  a  ransom  for  the  many,  the  just  for 
the  unjust ;  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  comfort, 
strengthen,  and  support  us,  to  enable  us  to  turn 
unto  God,  to  renew  our  fallen  nature  by  his 
mighty  though  secret  influence,  to  bring  us  by 
Regeneration  and  consequent  Sanctification  from 
darkness  into  light,  and  thus  to  make  us  meet 
for  the  inheritance  of  the  glorified  saints. f 

4.  As  we  are  thus  both  depraved  and  utterly 
unable  to  help  ourselves  by  any  good  deeds,  it 

*  Alt.  xi.  f  Art.  X,  i,  ii,  xii,  xvii. 


of  Scripture,  7 

necessarily  follows,  what  we  further  learn,  that, 
touching  the  article  of  our  Justification,  we  are 
accounted  righteous  before  God^  only  for  the  merit 
of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  by  Faith, 
and  not  for  our  own  works  or  deservings.  When 
we  have  done  all,  we  are  still  but  unprofitable 
servants.  Instead  of  being  inflated  with  I  know 
not  what  vain  notion  of  our  own  meritoriousness 
for  the  few  and  imperfect  good  actions  which  we 
have  done  ;  we  each  of  us  rather  have  need  to 
smite  upon  our  breasts,  and  to  exclaim  with  the 
humble  publican,  Lord,  be  merciful  to  me  a  sin- 
ner !  * 

5.  We  learn,  however,  that  although  we  be 
justified  solely  by  grace  through  faith,  we  are 
not  on  that  account  to  imagine  that  we  are  set 
free  from  the  law  of  righteousness  so  far  as  its 
moral  obligation  upon  us  is  concerned.  Shall 
we  sin,  that  grace  may  abound  ?  God  forbid. 
That  were  indeed  to  insult  the  Almighty  for  all 
the  mercies  which  he  has  shewed  towards  us : 
that  were  to  crucify  the  Son  of  God  afresh,  and 
put  him  to  open  shame  before  infidels  and  men 
of  this  world :  that  were  with  desperate  hands  to 
tear  up  the  work  of  the  Lord  in  our  souls,  and 
to  count  the  blood  of  the  covenant  an  unholy 
thing  by  making  Christ  the  minister  of  unrigh- 

*  Art.  xi. 


&  The  Universal  Profitableness 

teousness.  Good  works  are  the  necessary  and 
only  sure  evidence  of  our  possessing  true  faith 
and  of  our  being  in  a  state  of  acceptance  with 
God,  This  is  the  test,  which  our  Lord  himself 
proposes.  He  does  not  refer  us  to  frames  and. 
feelings,  to  delusive  joys  and  fleeting  raptures, 
to  an  imaginary  assurance  that  we  are  the  chosen 
of  God,  and  to  a  vain  confidence  that  it  is  out  of 
our  power  to  fall  away :  but  he  teaches  us,  as 
the  Church  does  after  him,  that  a  lively  faith 
may  as  evidently  be  known  by  good  works,  as 
a  tree  is  by  its  fruit.  Without  a  tree  there  can 
be  no  fruit :  without  a  lively  faith,  there  can  be 
no  good  works.  But  then  again,  as  a  dead  tree 
produces  no  fruit,  and  is  meet  only  to  be  cut 
down  and  cast  into  the  fire,  though  it  exhibits  all 
the  outward  semblance  and  lineaments  of  a  tree: 
so  a  dead  faith  equally  produces  no  good  works, 
being,  in  fact,  the  mere  theoretical  belief  which 
characterizes  the  very  devils  themselves.* 

6.  Accordingly  we  learn,  that  the  elect  people 
of  God  are  only  those,  who  are  made  his  sons 
by  adoption  ;  who  are  changed  into  the  image  of 
his  only  begotten  Son  Jesus  Christ ;  who  walk 
religiously  in  good  works ;  and  who  at  length, 
by  God's  mercy,  attain  to  everlasting  felicity. 
All,  who  answer  not  to  this  description,  how- 

*  Art.  xii. 


of  Scripture.  9 

ever  they  may  flatter  themselves  with  being  in 
the  number  of  the  elect,  are  yet  in  the  gall  of 
bitterness  and  in  the  bond  of  iniquity.  Vainly 
puffed  up  in  their  fleshly  minds,  they  are  not 
labouring  to  make  their  calling  and  election 
sure :  and,  inasmuch  as  they  shew  by  their  works 
that  they  have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ,  ihey  as- 
suredly are  none  of  his,  whatever  may  be  their 
high-vaulting  pretensions.* 

7.  Finally  we  learn,  that  God  freely  invites 
all  men  to  partake  of  the  marriage  supper  of 
the  Lamb ;  that,  to  all  who  sincerely  ask  for 
such  a  blessing,  he  has  promised  his  Holy  Spirit 
to  guide  and  preserve  and  sanctify  them  j  that 
he  will  reject  no  penitent  sinner,  to  whom  the 
remembrance  of  his  past  iniquities  is  grievous, 
and  to  whom  the  burden  of  them  is  intolerable  ; 
that  he  will  not  bruise  the  broken  reed,  nor 
quench  the  smoaking  flax  ;  that  there  is  joy  in 
heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth  ;  that  God, 
even  the  God  of  truth,  will  never  fail  those  who 
meekly  and  humbly  put  their  trust  in  him ;  but 
that  he  will  be  their  guide  and  the  unbending 
staff  of  their  confidence  even  unto  death.f 

These  are  some  of  the  most  important  of 
those  doctrines,  which  the  Scripture  is  profitable 
to  teach  us :  doctrines  of  the  highest  moment 

*  Art.  xvii.  f  Art.  xv. 

Faher,       3 


10  The  Universal  Profitableness 

to  man,  inasmuch  as  they  point  out  to  him  the 
road  to  everlasting  happiness,  and  open  unto 
him  the  gates  of  eternal  life. 

II.  But  Scripture  is  moreover  profitable  for 
reproof. 

Let  him  that  thinketh  he  slandeth,  says  the 
Apostle,  take  heed  lest  he  fall.  Since  we  are 
all  by  nature  prone  to  sin,  God  in  mercy  is  pleased 
to  mingle,  with  the  most  gracious  invitations  to 
the  truly  penitent,  the  sharpest  reproofs  to  the 
impenitent ;  in  order  that  they  may  be  induced 
to  forsake  the  evil  of  their  ways  and  turn  them 
humbly  to  their  Saviour.  As  I  live,  saith  the 
Lord,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  un- 
righteous. The  tremendous  threats,  with  which 
Scripture  abounds,  are  denounced,  not  with  a 
view  to  drive  us  to  despair,  but  to  lead  us  to  re- 
pentance ;  not  to  make  us  harden  ourselves  in 
hopeless  iniquity,  but  to  constrain  us  with  a 
merciful  violence  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come. 
Kiioiving  therefore  the  terrors  of  the  Lord,  we,  his 
appointed  ministers,  persuade  men :  and,  as  the 
ambassadors  of  heaven,  we  beseech  you  to  be  re- 
conciled unto  God,  lest  unadvisedly  you  destroy 
your  own  souls. 

Painful  as  the  office  of  reproof  may  be,  we 
dare  not  handle  the  word  of  God  deceitfully ; 
we  dare  not  heal  the  wounds  of  his  people 
slightly ;  we  dare  not  cry  peace,  when  there  is  no 


of  Scripture,  l  i 

peace.  We  should  shew  ourselves  to  be  either 
hypocrites  or  unbelievers,  if  we  presumed  to 
hold  out  comfort  to  the  impenitent.  We  cannot, 
as  we  value  our  own  salvation,  promise  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  to  fornicators  and  adulterers, 
to  drunkards  and  unclean  persons,  to  liars  and 
blasphemers,  or  to  those  who  indulge  in  the  dia- 
bolical spiritual  sins  of  envy,  hatred,  or  malice. 
But  we  feel  an  unspeakable  pleasure,  when  we 
find  ourselves  authorised  to  administer  the  scrip- 
tural balm  of  consolation  to  all  such  persons 
upon  their  true  and  hearty  repentance.  The  one 
duty  we  perform  with  reluctance,  the  other  with 
heartfelt  satisfaction.  Yet  they  are  both  equally 
duties  imposed  upon  us :  and  it  is  at  our  own 
peril,  if  we  so  attend  to  the  second,  as  to  ne- 
glect the  first. 

III.  St.  Paul  goes  on  to  tell  us,  that  Scripture 
is  yet  additionally  profitable/^?'  correction. 

By  the  word  correction  here  used,*  I  under- 
stand the  setting  us  right  in  our  opinions^  whe- 
ther those  opinions  respect  principles  or  practice. 
Without  the  Bible,  all  our  sentiments  of  God  and 
religion  are  radically  false :  it  is  the  oflice  of 
Scripture  to  correct  these  sentiments.  And, 
even  with  the  Bible  in  our  hands,  it  is  astonish- 
uig  what  erroneous  opinions  are  frequently  en- 


12  The  Universal  Profitableness 

tertained  with  regard  both  to  doctrine  and  prac- 
tice :  it  is  the  office  of  Scripture  to  correct  all 
such  mistakes. 

It  may  not  be  amiss,  if  I  instance  a  few  of 
them,  and  point  out  how  the  inspired  word  of 
God  discharges  this  part  of  its  office. 

1.  Some  have  fancied,  because  Scripture  de^ 
clares  that  we  are  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins 
and  that  we  have  no  power  of  ourselves  to  help 
ourselves,  that  it  is  a  vain  labour  for  us  to  at- 
tempt to  repent  and  turn  unto  God.  We  can 
do  nothing  of  ourselves^  say  they  ;  why  therefore 
should  xve  fatigue  ourselves  with  fruitlessly  trying 
to  do  our  duty  ? 

Now  in  what  manner  does  Scripture  correct 
such  perverters  of  God's  word?  It  says  to 
them :  True :  you  can  do  nothing  af  yourselves  ; 
but  God  hath  declared,  that  his  grace  shall  be  suf- 
ficient for  you,  a7id  that  his  strength  shall  be  made 
perfect  in  your  weakness,  unless  you  wilfully 
and  obstinately  reject  his  proffered  assistance. 
I  can  do  all  things,  said  the  Apostle,  through  Christ 
that  strength eneth  me  :  and  so  may  each  of 
you  say.  Weak  as  you  ar'e  by  iiature,  God  will 
freely  impart  the  aid  of  his  Holy  Spirit  to  such 
as  ask  it.  Ask,  and  you  shall  have  ;  seek,  and 
you  shall  find ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto 
you  :  is  the  express  direcfion  and  promise  of  that 
very  Saviour,  who  yet  has  likewise  declared, 


of  Scripture,  13 

Without  me  ye  can  do  nothing.  The  pleading 
of  your  natural  inahility  will  stand  you  in  very 
little  stead  at  the  day  of  judgment ;  when  it  is 
founds  that  you  never  sought  for  that  assistance 
which  would  abundantly  have  enabled  you  to 
fight  the  good  fight  of  faith.  You  would  enter- 
tain a  very  bad  opinion  of  the  common  sense ^  and 
still  worse  of  the  honesty^  of  a  servant^  who  de- 
clined doing  his  work  on  the  plea  that  it  was 
above  his  strength  ;  when  it  turned  out  upon  en- 
quiry^ that  his  master  had  furnished  him  with 
every  requisite  assistance^  but  that  he  did  ?iot 
think  proper  to  make  use  of  it. 

2.  Others  have  run  into  a  directly  contrary 
error  ;  and  have  argued  on  the  Pelagian  system, 
that,  because  Scripture  commands  us  to  per- 
form such  and  such  duties,  we  of  course  are  able 
to  perform  them  in  our  own  strength.  But,  if 
we  be  able  to  perform  them  in  our  own  strength, 
then  we  require  not  any  preventing  grace  of 
God  to  bring  us  into  the  paths  of  righteousness  ; 
but  possess  both  the  will  and  the  power  to  make 
ourselves  holy. 

Scripture  is  equally  profitable  to  correct  this 
error  also.  It  declares  to  us,  that  of  ourselves 
we  can  do  no  good  things  that  all  our  sufficiency 
is  of  God,  and  that  God  worketh  in  us  both  to  will 
and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure.  Hence  it  plainly 
follows,  that  every  command  to  do  our  duty  pre- 


14}  The  Universal  Profitableness 

supposes,  that  we  both  ask  and  receive  assis- 
tance from  the  throne  of  grace.  When  our 
Lord  commanded  the  man  with  the  withered 
arm  to  stretch  forth  the  inefficient  member, 
should  we  think  it  a  very  wise  mode  of  reason- 
ing, if  a  bystander  had  argued,  that  the  arm  cer- 
tainly was  not  withered,  because  it  would  be  nu- 
gatory to  enjoin  that  which  it  would  be  physical- 
ly impossible  to  perform  ?  We  should  obvious- 
ly reply :  The  arm  indeed  is  doubtless  withered 
and  is  utterly  incapable  of  self-motion :  the  man 
therefore^  zvho  has  stretched  it  out  at  the  wonl  of 
command^  must  evidently  have  first  received 
strength  from  him  who  gave  the  command ; 
otherwise  he  would  still  have  remained  as  inca- 
pable of  action  as  ever  he  was.  Just  the  same 
mode  of  reasoning  applies,  with  equal  force,  to 
a  religious  precept  enjoined  upon  a  person  la^ 
bouring  under  moral  disability.  The  precept 
does  not  prove  the  man  to  labour  under  no  dis- 
ability :  it  only  proves,  that  the  gracious  Being, 
wiio  gave  the  precept,  is  ready  to  give  all  ne- 
cessary strength  for  the  due  performance  of  it. 

3.  Others  again  have  become  Antinomians  j 
and  have  madly  decried  all  good  works  as  mere 
servile  legality,  because  the  Bible  teaches  us, 
that  we  are  justified  solely  by  grace  through 
faith  and  not  for  our  own  workings  or  deserv- 
ings. 


of  Scripture,  15 

Here  likewise  the  Scripture  will  be  found  pro- 
fitable for  correction.  We  are  not  to  give  up 
the  sound  doctrine  of  Justification,  because  some 
wrong-headed  persons  have  built  upon  it  a  mon- 
strous heresy :  but  we  are  to  reject  the  heresy, 
and  yet  contend  for  the  doctrine.  Though  the 
Bible  repeatedly  declares,  that  we  are  justified 
solely  by  faith,  else  grace  were  no  longer  grace : 
it  nevertheless  assures  us,  that  we  are  only  jus- 
tified by  such  a  faith  as  worketh  by  love  ;  by 
faith  solely^  not  by  faith  solitarily,  as  the  old  di- 
vines were  wont  aptly  to  express  themselves.* 
Faith  without  works  is  dead,  being  alone  :  shexv 
me  thy  faith  by  thy  works,  otherwise  thou  as- 
suredly possessest  not  one  atom  of  saving  faith. 
Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord,  how- 
ever just  his  speculative  notions  may  be  re- 
specting Christian  doctrines.  If  he  possess 
nothing  but  a  barren  dead  faith,  a  faith  utterly 
unproductive  of  evangelical  godliness  ;  he  hath 
a  name  that  he  liveth,  and  is  dead, 

IV.  Finally,  Scripture  is  profitable  for  instruc- 
tion in  righteousness. 

It  is  ever  the  plan  -of  the  inspired  writers,  and 
we  the  appointed  pastors  of  God's  people  ought 
to  imitate  them  therein,  to  deduce  holy  practice 
from  sound  doctrine.     We  shall  not  fully  dis- 

^  Fide  sola,  non  solitaria. 


16  The  Universal  Profitableness 

charge  our  duty,  if  we  merely  lay  before  you 
the  dogmas  of  Christianity:  we  must  likewise 
labour  to  make  the  Scripture  profitable  for  your 
instruction  in  righteousness,  that  so  you  may  be 
perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works. 
And  how  amply  does  the  Bible  furnish  us  with 
such  instruction  in  righteousness. 

1.  Read  the  sermon  of  our  Lord  on  the  mount ; 
and  see  there  delineated,  with  the  unerring  pen- 
cil of  eternal  truth,  the  character  and  duties  of 
an  Israelite  indeed. 

Blessed  are  the  poor  iwspirit :  for  theirs  is  the 

kingdom  of  heaven.     Blessed  are  they  that  mourn  : 

for  they  shall  be  comforted.     Blessed  are  the  meek  : 

for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth.     Blessed  are  they 

which  do  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness  : 

for  they  shall  be  filled.     Blessed  are  the  merciful  : 

for  they   shall  obtain  mercy.     Blessed  are  the 

pure  in  heart :  for  they  shall  see  God,     Blessed 

are  the  peace-makers :  for  they  shall  be  called 

the  children  of  God.     Blessed  are  they  which  are 

persecuted  for  righteousness  sake :  for  theirs  is 

the  kingdom  of  heaven,* 

2,  Would  we  further  know,  what  manner  of 
men  we  ought  to  be,  to  please  God,  and  what 
sins  it  is  our  bounden  duty  to  forsake  ;  how  full 
and  complete  is  the  instruction  in  righteousness 
afforded  us  by  the  inspired  apostle. 

*  Matt.  V.  3—10. 


of  Scripture.  17 

Jsfow  the  works  of  the  flesh  are  manifest^  which 
are  these:  adultery^  fornication,  uncleanness^  las- 
civiousness,  idolatry,  witchcraft,  hatred,  variance^ 
emulations,  wrath,  strife,  seditions,  heresies^ 
envyings,  murders,  drunkenness,  re'cellings,  arid 
such  like :  of  the  which  I  tell  you  before,  as  I  have 
also  told  you  in  time  past,  that  they  which  do  such 
things  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God.  But 
the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suf- 
fering, gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  tem- 
perance :  against  such  there  is  no  law.  And  they 
that  are  ChrisPs,  have  crucified  the  flesh  with  the 
affections  and  lusts.  If  we  live  in  the  Spirit,  let 
us  also  walk  m  the  Spirit.^ 

In  this  manner  does  Scripture  instruct  us  in 
rigliteousness.  The  more  particular  manner, 
however,  in  which  it  thus  instructs  us,  must  be 
reserved  for  our  frequent  future  meditations. 
To  discuss  it  fuily  requires  not  one  discourse 
merely,  but  numerous  discourses 

V.  To  conclude  :  who  is  sufficient  for  these 
things  ? 

Since  it  has  been  declared,  even  of  the  in- 
spired teachers  of  the  primitive  Church,  that, 
although  a  Paul  planted  and  an  ApoUos  water- 
ed, God  alone  gave  the  increase  ;  and  that  nei- 
ther is  he  thatplanteth  any  thing,  neither  he  that 

*  Gal.  V.  19—25. 

Faher.     4 


18     The  Universal  Profitableness  of  Scripture, 

water eth,  hut  God  that  giveth  the  increase :  much 
more  may  we  of  the  present  day  take  up  a  si- 
milar declaration  respecting  ourselves.  Vain  will 
be  the  labour  of  him  who  has  for  so  many  years 
diligently  planted  the  word  among  you ;  vain 
will  be  my  labour  in  watering  what  he  has 
planted  :  unless  God's  Holy  Spirit  be  richly 
shed  abroad  in  your  hearts ;  and  unless  to  the 
hearing  of  the  word  you  add  frequent  medita- 
tion, earnest  prayer,  and  constant  self-examina- 
tion. 

While  you  pray  then  for  yourselves,  brethren, 
pray  likewise  for  those  who  watch  for  your  souls, 
as  they  that  must  give  account,  that  they  may  do 
it  withjny  and  not  with  grief  And,  as  I  doubt 
not  that  your  prayers  will  follow  your  late  good 
pastor,  pray  also  for  us,  that  we  may  be  enabled 
to  exercise  our  ministry  among  you  with  a  sound 
conscience  in  this  world  ;  and  that  hereafter  you 
may  be  our  joy  and  crown  of  rejoicing,  in  the 
presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  at  his  coming. 


SERMON  II. 


GOD'S   JUSTICE   EXEMPLIFIED   IN  THE 
ATONEMENT  OF  CHRIST. 


ROM.  III.    S3 — 26. 

All  have  sinnedj  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God  ;  be- 
ing justified  freely  by  his  grace  through  the  redemp- 
tion that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  whom  God  hath  set  forth 
to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith  in  his  bloody  to  de- 
clare his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins  that 
are  past,  through  the  forbearance  of  God ;  to  declare y 
I  say,  at  this  time  his  righteousness  :  that  he  might  be 
just,  and  the  justifer  of  him  which  believeth  in  Jesus. 

THE  perfect  justice  of  a  God  of  boundless 
power  is  an  attribute  so  tremendously  awful, 
that  the  best  of  men  may  well  shrink  from  the 
contemplation  of  it.  Yet,  since  in  one  sense  it 
is  the  very  basis  of  Christianity,  since  the  whole 
of  St.  Paul's  argument  throughout  his  epistle  to 
the  Romans  is  built  upon  the  undeniable  exist- 
ence of  such  an  attribute,  and  since  the  notion 
of  it  even  in  its  highest  state  of  perfection  seems 


20  God'^s  Justice  exemplified 

to  be  familiar  to  the  human  mind  ;  a  reveren^ 
tial  discussion  of  it,  as  connected  with  the  hopes 
of  peace  and  pardon  held  forth  to  us  in  the 
Gospel,  can  at  no  time  be  altogether  out  of  sea- 
son, and  on  some  occasions  may  be  deemed  pe- 
culiarly in  season. 

I.  Any  exertion  of  justice  necessarily  presup- 
poses the  existence  of  some  known  law  or 
standard  of  right  and  wrong,  to  which  the  ac- 
tions of  those  who  are  amenable  to  the  tribunal 
in  question  may  be  referred. 

If  the  actions  are  of  such  a  description  as 
come  not  within  the  cognizance  of  the  law  by 
violating  any  of  its  enactments,  the  man  is  inno- 
cent :  but,  if  they  be  of  a  contrary  description, 
then  he  is  guilty  ;  ^nd  justice  cannot  be  satisfied 
without  his  undergoing  the  merited  punishment. 
Very  possibly  he  may  not  have  broken  ex^ery 
enactment  of  the  law.  But  still  his  partial  in- 
nocence will  not  excuse  his  partial  transgres- 
sion  :  his  obedience  will  never  be  weighed 
against  his  disobedience.  If  he  be  convicted  of 
theft,  he  will  in  no  court  be  allowed  to  plead  in 
arrest  of  judgment  his  freedom  from  the  crimi- 
nality of  murder.  He  has  broken  the  law  in 
one  point  ;  and  that  is  amply  sufficient.  His  ac- 
tions come  not  up  to  the  standard  required  of 
him  :  justice  therefore  is  concerned  in  exacting 
satisfaction  of  him.     He  will  not  indeed  be  pun- 


in  the  Atonement  of  Christ.  %i 

ished  for  a  crime  which  he  has  not  committed : 
but  his  single  violation  of  the  law  will  no  less 
assuredly  arm  it  against  him,  than  if  his  breach 
of  it  had  been  ever  so  complicated.  Justice  is 
concerned  in  seeing  him  punished  :  and,  if  he 
be  not  punished,  the  suffering  of  him  to  escape 
is  undoubtedly  an  act  of  injustice. 

In  the  exercise  of  human  laws,  it  is  found 
necessary  to  vest  somewhere  or  other  the  pow- 
er of  granting  an  absolute  pardon.  But  the  use 
of  this  power,  or,  in  other  words,  the  assump- 
tion of  the  privilege  of  -  mercy,  must  inevitably, 
from  the  very  nature  of  things,  be  a  departure 
from  strict  and  naked  justice.  We  may  call  it 
a  necessary  power,  or  we  may  call  the  occasion- 
al exercise  of  it  an  amiable  injustice :  but  still, 
disguise  it  as  we  please,  turn  it  as  we  may,  if 
sifted  to  the  bottom,  it  will  prove  to  be  neither 
more  nor  less,  than  an  act  of  absolute  injustice. 
In  fact,  such  is  the  unavoidable  deficiency  of  hu- 
man institutions,  perfect  justice  and  perfect  mercy 
cannot  subsist  together.  We  may,  like  Draco 
of  old,  write  our  laws  in  blood  by  way  of  attain- 
ing to  perfect  justice  :  but  what  then  becomes  of 
mercy  ?  We  may  allow  to  the  sovereign  the 
exercise  of  mercy  :  but  what  then  becomes  of 
the  perfection  of  our  justice  ?  The  moment  that 
mercy  is  introduced,  since  it  can  only  be  extend- 
ed to  those  who  deserve  punishment  (otherwise 


82  God^s  Justice  exemplified 

the  remission  of  punishment  is  not  an  act  ofgrace^ 
but  a  claim  of  absolute  right :)  the  moment,  I 
say,  that  mercy  is  introduced,  justice  is  render- 
ed imperfect,  because  a  criminal  is  suffered  to 
escape  with  impunity;  and,  the  moment  that 
justice  is  in  this  manner  rendered  imperfect,  it, 
to  all  intents  and  purposes,  becomes  injustice. 

So  far  as  the  merits  of  the  abstract  question 
are  concerned,  it  is  in  vain  to  say,  that  there 
were  such  and  such  mitigating  circumstances, 
which  moved  the  sovereign  to  extend  his  par- 
don to  the  culprit.  The  sum  of  the  matter, 
after  all,  will  be  found  to  be  simply  this  :  did  the 
man  break  the  law,  or  did  he  not  break  it  ?  If 
he  did  not  break  it,  an  exemption  from  punish- 
ment was  no  more  than  his  right ;  in  this  case, 
there  was  plainly  no  room  for  mercy.  If  he  did 
break  it,  then  in  absolute  strictness  he  deserved 
■punishment :  and,  if  he  were  suffered  to  escape, 
no  mitigating  circumstances  can  possibly  render 
that  just,  which  in  itself  is  intrinsically  unjust. 
We  may  applaud  the  amiability  of  mercy  ;  nay, 
we  may  even  find  it  necessary  for  the  well-be- 
ing of  society,  that  the  discretionary  power  of 
exercising  it  should  be  lodged  somewhere  :  but 
mercy,  as  exercised  by  man,  can  never,  if  tho- 
roughly analysed,  be  any  thing  else  than  an  infe- 
rior sort  of  injustice. 


in  the  Atonement  of  Christ,  a 3 

II.  Now,  if  I  mistake  not,  some  such  view  of 
the  subject  as  this  forms  the  groundwork  of  St. 
Paul's  argument. 

His  assumption  is,  that  God  must,  from  the 
very  perfection  of  his  nature,  be  absolutely  and 
immutably  just :  because,  if  he  did  not  possess  the 
attribute  of  justice  in  perfection,  he  would  be  an 
imperfect  being  ;  and  an  imperfect  Godhead  pre- 
siding over  the  universe  is  a  contradiction  in 
terms. 

His  point  to  he  proved  is^  that  all  men  of  every 
description,  whether  they  be  Jews  or  whether 
they  be  Gentiles,  have  acted  in  opposition  to  a 
known  law:  obviouslv  not  the  ceremonial  law, 
in  the  case  of  the  Geiitiles^  because  they  were 
wholly  ignorant  of  any  such  law  ;  and  as  obvi- 
ously not  the  ceremonious  law  even  in  the  case 
Qi  the  Jews  (as  some  have  imagined,)  because 
throughout  the  whole  of  this  epistle,  the  law, 
which  St.  Paul  maintains  them  to  have  broken, 
and  thence  to  have  become  guilty  before  God,  is 
plainly  the  moral  law.* 

His  deduction  is,  that,  since  all  have  tlius  sin- 
ned, none  can  be  justified  by  the  law  which  was 
the  appointed  standard  of  their  actions ;  whe- 
ther that  law  was  the  unwritten  law,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Gentiles,  or  the  written  law,  as  in 

*  See  Rom.  ii.  17—29.  iii.  9—20,  23,  27,  28.  iv.  1—16. 
vii.  7,  8,  21—25. 


24}  God^s  Justice  exemplified 

the  case  of  the  Jews :  and  consequently,  since 
the  law  cannot  justify  them,  it  must  inevitably 
condemn  them. 

1.  With  respect  to  St.  Paul's  assumption, 
namely  the  immutable  justice  of  God;  as  it 
clearly  cannot  be  denied,  so  neither  can  it  re- 
quire any  discussion. 

S.  We  may  proceed,  therefore,  immediately 
to  consider  the  mode,  in  which  he  would  prove 
the  position,  that  all  men  have  sinned  or  violated  a 
known  law. 

The  Gentiles  possessed  what  is  usually  called 
the  law  of  nature^  but  what  seems  in  reality  to 
have  been  a  recollection  of  primitive  patriarchal 
revelation  so  strong  that  neither  time  nor  a  de- 
based superstition  could  wholly  obliterate  it. 
They  were,  as  the  Apostle  speaks,  a  law  unto 
themselves :  not  thereby  intimating,  I  apprehend, 
that  they  actually  invented  the  law  to  which  they 
were  amenable  (for,  if  it  had  not  been  originally 
imposed  by  God,  the  breach  of  it  could  not  have 
been  an  offence  against  him) ;  but  that,  in  a 
state  of  nature  as  contradistinguished  from  a  state 
of  subjection  to  a  written  law,  they  were  still  li- 
able to  be  called  to  an  account  for  their  trans- 
gression of  that  will  of  God  with  which  they 
were  acquainted. 

Now  the  Apostle  contends,  that,  however  im- 
perfect might  be  their  knowledge  of  God's  will, 


\ 


in  the  Atonemeiit  of  Christ,  25 

compared  with  that  possessed  by  the  Jews,  who 
had  a  written  law  to  direct  them,  still  they  never 
acted  up  to  that  degree  of  light  which  they  did 
enjoy.  Their  first  criminality  was  an  unwilling- 
ness to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge,  a  depar- 
ture with  a  high  hand  fi^om  those  divine  insti- 
tutions which  the  children  of  Noah  (as  the  Rab- 
bins rightly  contend)  must  have  carried  with 
them  into  all  their  primitive  settlements. 

But  this,  it  may  be  said,  was  the  crime  of  their 
forefathers,  rather  than  of  the  later  Gentiles. 

It  was,  I  allow,  peculiarly  their  crime,  but  not 
exclusivelij  so.  The  progress  of  corruption,  ori- 
ginating in  a  hearty  dishke  to  the  just  and  holy 
law  of  God,  was  nevertheless  gradual.  Each 
generation  added  something  to  the  apostacy  of 
the  preceding  one  :  each  therefore  was  succes- 
sively criminal. 

Nor  was  this  all :  plunged  as  they  were,  when 
St.  Paul  flourished,  in  the  grossest  abominations 
both  of  principle  and  practice,  given  over,  as  they 
awfully  were,  by  God  himself  to  a  reprobate 
mind  ;  yet  they  had  not  been  able  wholly  to 
obliterate  a  sense  of  right  and  wrong,  with  re- 
spect to  the  Deity  as  supreme  lawgiver :  I  say, 
with  respect  to  the  Deity,  not  simply,  with  re- 
spect to  society ;  for  to  this  point  is  the  argu- 
ment of  the  Apostle  directed,  and  indeed  must 
be  directed  in  order  to  be  conclusive.     He  con- 

Faber.  5 


136  God^s  Justice  exemplified 

tends,  that,  in  addition  to  their  disliking  to  retain 
God  in  their  knowledge,  they  were  wilfully  guilty 
of  actions,  which,  at  the  very  time  of  their  com- 
mitting them,  they  knew  to  be  offensive  to  him : 
KNOWING  the  judgment  of  God,  that  they  which 
commit  such  things  are  worthy  of  death,  they  not 
only  do  the  same,  but  have  pleasure  in  them  that 
do  them.  Hence  they  were  guilty,  on  their  own 
principles  ;  because  they  had  voluntarily  and  de- 
terminately  broken  that  portion  of  the  divine 
law  which  they  did  possess. 

It  were  easy  to  shew  from  the  writings  of  the 
ancient  heathens,  that  they  themselves  acknow- 
ledged this  to  be  the  case ;  that  they  owned 
themselves  to  act  in  direct  opposition  to  what 
they  knew  to  be  the  will  of  God :  but  it  is  su- 
perfluous to  press  the  matter  any  further.  And, 
if  the  Gentiles  stand  convicted  of  this  criminal- 
ity, no  arguments  can  be  necessary  to  shew  the 
violation  of  the  written  moral  law  on  the  part  of 
the  Jews. 

Nor  let  us  imagine,  that  mere  freedom  from 
outward  obliquity  of  conduct,  even  supposing 
such  a  thing  ever  to  have  perfectly  existed, 
either  within  or  without  the  pale  of  the  Levitical 
church,  could  in  itself  exempt  a  man  from  the 
charge  of  having  transgressed  the  divine  law. — 
Under  mere  human  institutions,  external  viola- 
tion alone  constitutes  guilt.    Whatever  may  be 


in  the  Atonement  of  Christ,  S7 

the  hidden  purpose,  until  that  purpose  be  carried 
into  effect,  the  man  is  accounted  innocent.  But 
the  laW  of  God  partakes  of  the  spirituaUty  of  its 
immaculate  author.  In  the  eyes  of  him,  before 
whom  every  secret  desire  lies  naked  and  ex- 
posed, each  thought  is  an  action ;  each  rebel- 
lious speculation  is  rebellion  itself;  each  unhal- 
lowed wish  is  positive  transgression.  When  the 
divine  law  is  taken  in  this  point  of  view  (and 
such  is  the  view  in  which  it  must  be  taken  both 
according  to  reason  and  Scripture),  what  man 
is  there,  wholiveth,  and  hath  not  offended  ?  Well 
then  may  the  Apostle  confidently  wind  up  his 
argument,  by  saying,  IVe  have  proved  both  Jews 
and  Gentiles,  that  they  are  all  under  sin. 

3.  If,  therefore,  his  assumption  be  valid,  that 
God  is  perfectly  just ;  and  if  his  point  be  clearly 
proved,  that  all  men  without  exception  have  hiow- 
ingly  transgressed  the  divine  law :  his  deduction 
must  follow,  in  the  way  of  necessary  and  inevit- 
able consequence;  that,  so  far  from  any  of  us  be- 
ing able  to  hope  for  justification  by  our  obedience 
to  the  law,  we  can  thence  look  for  nothing  but  con- 
demnation. 

The  reason  of  this  is  manifest.  A  law  exists, 
to  which  we  owe  submission,  and  which,  never- 
theless, we  have  voluntarily  transgressed.  Th\s 
person  may  have  transgressed  it  in  one  way,  and 
that  person  in  another ;  this  iildeed,  that  per- 


38  God^s  Justice  exemplijied 

haps  only  in  purpose  :  but  every  individual  has 
transgressed  it  in  some  shape.     Evei^y  individual 
therefore  must  deserve  punishment :  and  God, 
as  a  just  judge,  is  obliged  (with  reverence  be  it 
spoken),  not  indeed  by  any  physical  necessity, 
but  by  diat  moral  necessity  which  results  from 
the  eternal  immutability  of  his  nature  ;  God  is 
obliged  to  exact  the  penalty  incurred.     Were  it 
otherwise,  God  would  not  be  perfectly  just :  and 
a  God  not  perfectly  just  is  an  imperfect  God  ; 
which  monstrous  idea,  as  I  have  already  observ- 
ed, is  a  contradiction  in  terms.     We  not  unfre- 
quently  hear  a  strange  notion  advanced,  that  in 
the  day  of  judgment  a  man's  good  deeds  will  be 
weighed  against  his  bad  ones,  and  a  sort  of  ba- 
lance  struck  between  them.     If  the  good  pre- 
ponderate, he  will  be  saved  ;  if  the  bad,  he  will 
perish.     But,  to  say  nothing  of  the  unscriptural- 
ness  of  such  an  opinion,  it  is  daily  confuted  by  the 
practice  of  our  courts  of  justice.     Wliat  should 
we  think,  if  a  man,  fully  convicted  of  robbery, 
and  pretending  not  to  deny  his  guilt,  should 
argue,  that  he  ought  not  in  justice  to  be  punish- 
ed, because  he  was  perfectly  innocent  both  of 
adultery  and  forgery,  and  of  murder :  he  had 
broken  the  law  only  in  one  point,  perhaps  only 
in  one  instance  ;  he  had  paid  due  obedience  to 
it  in  many  points,  in  every  instance  perhaps  ex- 
cept one :  therefore  his  obedience  far  outweigh- 


in  the  Monement  of  Christ.  29 

ed  his  disobedience  ;  therefore  he  ought  to  es- 
cape, not  only  without  punishment,  but  with 
well  deserved  commendation  for  his  exemplary 
conduct  in  having  violated  the  law  in  only  one 
solitary  case  ?  \V  hat,  I  ask,  should  we  think  if 
such  a  defence  were  set  up  in  a  human  court  of 
judicature  ?  Yet  some  have  imagined,  that  this 
very  plea,  which  can  scarcely  be  stated  without 
bordering  upon  the  ludicrous,  will  be  perfectly 
valid  in  that  awful  court,  where  God  himself  pre- 
sides by  the  agency  of  his  eternal  Son. 

III.  The  sum,  then,  of  the  whole  argument,  an 
argument  founded  on  right  reason  and  peremp- 
torily established  by  the  authority  of  revelation — 
the  sum  of  the  whole  argument  is  this. 

God  is  a  God  of  perfect  justice.  But  God  has, 
with  greater  or  less  clearness,  made  known  his 
will  to  all  mankind :  either  by  traditionary  law, 
which  the  Apostle  describes  as  an  obligation  to 
do  the  things  of  the  law  by  nature ;  or  by  the 
written  law,  which  in  his  day  was  peculiar  to 
the  Jews.  All  mankind,  however,  have  acted  in 
direct  opposition  to  his  will,  by  voluntarily  break- 
ing the  law,  which  was  appointed  as  the  stand- 
ard of  their  actions.  Therefore  the  justice  of 
God  is  as  much  concerned  to  inflict  punishment 
on  all  mankind,  as  the  justice  of  our  courts  of 
law  is  concerned  to  inflict  punishment  on  a  rob- 
ber or  a  murderer. 


30  God^s  Justice  exemplified 

What  that  punishment  is,  we  are  very  un- 
equivocally taught  in  the  i  M  Testament :  and 
St.  Paul  confirms  its  decision  in  the  New.  As 
many  as  are  of  the  works  of  the  law,  that  is,  as 
many  as  venture  to  build  their  claim  of  salva- 
tion on  their  having  fulfilled  the  requisitions  of 
the  law,  are  under  the  curse  :  for  it  is  written, 
Cursed  is  every  one  that  continiieth  not  in  all 
things  which  are  written  in  the  hook  of  the  law  to 
do  theni..^ 

Would  we  then  be  justified  by  the  law,  we 
must  not  fail  to  obey  it  in  every  particular.  If 
we  transgress  in  any  one,  we  bring  ourselves  un- 
der a  curse.  Nor  can  our  obedience  to  it  in 
other  points  make  us  cease  to  be  disobedient  to 
it  in  this  one  :  just  as,  if  we  have  committed  rob- 
bery, our  freedom  from  the  guilt  of  murder  vdll 
not  therefore  make  us  cease  to  be  robbers.  But 
all,  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  have  transgressed, 
not  merely  in  one  point,  but  in  many :  and  the 
penalty  of  such  transgression  is  the  being  brought 
under  the  curse  of  God.  Therefore  all  mankind, 
without  the  exception  of  a  single  individual,  are 
under  the  curse  of  God.  Hence  the  Supreme 
Judge  of  all  the  Universe  is  as  much  bound,  by 
the  immutable  principles  of  justice,  to  inflict  pu- 
nishment on  them,  as  an  earthly  judge  is  bound 
to  inflict  punishment  on  a  murderer.  In  either 
case,  if  the  culprit  be  suffered  to  escape  with  im- 

*  Gal.  iii.  x. 


in  the  Atonement  of  Chnst,  3 1 

piinity,  an  act  of  injustice  is  palpably  commit- 
ted ;  however  we  may  attempt  to  disguise  it 
under  the  name  of  mercy. 

IV.  If  this  view  of  the  subject  be  accurate  (and, 
unless  I  greatly  mistake,  it  is  the  view  present- 
ed to  us  by  St.  Paul),  we  may  fearfully  exclaim 
with  the  prophet  of  Pethor,  Alas  who  shall  live 
when  God  doeth  this  ?  But  we  ought  to  do  more  : 
we  ought  (it  is  surely  our  interest  to  do  so) ; 
we  ought  diligently  and  anxiously  to  inquire,  in 
what  manner,  then,  we  may  hope  to  be  deliver- 
ed from  the  tremendous  potency  of  a  divine 
curse.  And  the  inquiry  has  been  made  in  all 
ages,  though  the  unaided  wit  of  man  was  never 
able  to  prosecute  it  successfully. 

I.  The  plan  of  the  Deist  who  rejects  divine  re- 
velation, in  which  he  is  followed  by  the  Socinian 
wiio  receives  it  so  far  as  it  squares  with  his  pre- 
conceived opinions,  is  partly  to  extenuate  the 
alleged  guilt  of  man,  and  partly  to  call  in  the 
unqualified  mercy  of  God. 

But  such  a  plan  by  no  means  solves  the  diffi- 
culty. The  question  is  not  to  what  extent  we 
have  been  disobedient,  but  whether  or  no  we  have 
been  disobedient  at  all.  If  we  have  disobeyed 
in  any  one  single  point,  we  are,  upon  every 
principle  of  legal  justice,  obnoxious  to  merited 
punishment.  Therefore,  unless  the  Deist  and 
the  Socinian  be  prepared  to  maintain  the  abso- 


S3  God'>s  Justice  exemplified 

lute  sinlessness  of  man,  they  must  acknowledge, 
that,  in  the  quality  of  a  transgressor  of  God's 
law,  he  deserves  punishment :  just  as  they  must 
acknowledge,  that  a  person,  who  has  been  guilty 
of  only  a  single  robbery  or  a  single  murder,  de- 
serves punishment,  however  blameless  he  may 
be  in  all  other  points.  But  we  rarely  find  them 
inclined  to  hazard  the  naked  assertion,  that  man 
is  altogether  sinless  before  God  ;  though  they 
are  apt  to  designate  his  offences  by  the  qualify- 
ing appellation  of  frailties.  Words,  however, 
will  not  alter  the  nature  of  things.  The  ac- 
knowledgment that  man  has  frailties,  is,  in  plain 
English,  the  acknowledgment  that  he  has  faults. 
And,  if  he  has  faults,  then  he  has  offended  be- 
fore God.  And,  if  he  has  offended  before  God, 
then  he  deserves  punishment.  And  that  pun- 
ishment the  Socinian,  at  least,  who  admits  the 
authority  of  revelation,  must  admit  to  be  the 
being  brought  under  God^s  curse :  because  this 
is  positively  declared  to  be  the  fate  of  those,  who 
continue  not  in  all  things  enjoined  by  the  law  ; 
that  is,  of  those,  who  violate  it  in  any  one  single 
particular. 

The  point,  therefore,  is,  in  what  manner  are 
we,  upon  the  principles  of  the  Deist  and  the  So- 
cinian, to  escape  the  tremendous  consequences 
of  the  curse  attached  to  any  one  act  of  disobe- 
dience ? 


in  the  Atonement  of  Christ.  83 

They  teach  us,  that  God  is  merciful  as  well 
as  just ;  and  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  free 
pardon  of  our  sins,  or  (as  they  term  them)  frail- 
ties, from  his  unqualified  mercy,  adding,  per- 
haps, on  the  condition  of  our  repentance. 

This  scheme  appears  sufficiently  plausible  on 
the  first  aspect.  But  it  will  in  no  wise  bear  the 
test  of  close  examination,  God  is  represented 
in  it  as  being  merciful  at  the  expense  of  his  jus- 
tice. The  Deity  of  the  Socinian  is  necessarily^ 
by  a  circle  of  consequence,  whatever  attempts 
may  be  made  to  escape  from  it  ;  is  necessarily 
and  inevitably  an  unjust  being,  and  therefore  an 
imperfect  being.  He  suffers  the  guilty  to  escape 
with  impunity  ;  and  therefore,  however  he  may 
be  complimented  on  the  score  of  m^7Ti/,  he  most 
assuredly  does  not  possess  the  attribute  of  ^^v- 
feet  justice,  and  consequently  is  himself  imper- 
fect. 

What !  it  may  be  asked,  does  it  argue  injus- 
tice to  pardon  a  culprit  on  his  sincere  repent- 
ance ? 

The  best  answer  to  this  question  is  afforded 
by  the  practice  of  our  courts  of  human  judica- 
ture. A  man  is  convicted  and  condemned  as  a 
murderer.  He  professes  himself,  and  (we  will 
suppose)  really  is,  a  true  penitent.  Now,  on 
the  Socinian  scheme  (for  the  only  difference  be- 
tween the  two  cases  is,  that  in  the  one  God  is 

Faber.    6 


B4?  God'>s  Justice  exemplified 

the  judge,  and  in  the  other  a  fellow  mortal ;  so 
far  as  the  abstract  question  of  justice  and  injus- 
tice is  concerned,  there  is  no  difference  at  all 
between  them  :)  on  the  Socinian  scheme,  I  say, 
this  murderer  may  equitably  be  pardoned,  sim- 
ply because  he  is  heartily  sorry  for  what  he  has 
done,  and  wishes  it  undone. 

If  such  reasoning  would  not  be  thought  valid 
in  our  courts  of  law,  I  see  not  why  we  should 
expect  it  to  be  admitted  at  the  bar  of  heaven. 
If  bare  repentance  will  not  avail  to  procure  a 
pardon  in  this  world,  why  should  we  suppose 
its  efficacy  to  be  greater  in  the  next  ?  Mercy 
is  indeed  sometimes  extended  here :  but,  as  I 
have  already  shewn,  if  it  be  analysed,  it  is  in 
reality  a  partial  act  of  injustice,  disguised  under 
a  pleasing  name.  If  it  be  ever  exercised  by  the 
Deity  in  the  manner  for  which  the  Socinian  con- 
tends ',  he  just  so  far  departs  from  perfect  jus- 
tice ;  he  just  so  far  is  partially  unjust  ;  he  just 
so  far  is  an  imperfect  Being.  It  is  impossible  to 
form  an  idea  of  a  perfectly  just  Being,  remit- 
ting:, by  a  mere  act  of  mercy,  that  punishment 
which  justice  requires  to  be  inflicted  on  an  of- 
fender. In  so  doing  (the  consequence  can  ne- 
ver be  eluded)  in  so  doing,  he  ceases  to  be  per- 
fectly just ;  because  he  does  not  fulfil  the  re- 
quisitions of  perfect  justice ;  and  thenceforth  he 
becomes,  to  a  certain  degree,  unjust. 


in  the  Atonement  of  Christ,  35 

lettheSocinian  labour  to  extricate  himself  as 
much  as  he  pleases,  I  see  not  how  he  can  escape 
from  the  horns  of  this  dilemma  :  either  the  God^ 
whom  he  worships,  is  a  partially  unjust,  and 
therefore  an  imperfect  God  ;  or,  if  he  he  a  per- 
fectly  just  and  therefore  a  perfect  God,  all  man- 
kind lie  under  the  curse  of  the  violated  law, 

2.  The  system  exhibited  in  Scripture,  but 
with  more  minute  (perhaps  I  may  say,  with 
more  scholastic)  particularity  by  St.  Paul  than 
by  any  other  of  the  sacred  writers,  differs,  un* 
less  the  words  of  Holy  Writ  be  twisted  most 
unnaturally  from  their  plain  and  obvious  mean- 
ing, very  essentially  from  the  system  advocated 
by  the  Socinian. 

The  remarkable  passage  before  us  contains 
the  sum  and  substance  of  the  whole  matter.  As 
a  point  already  proved  by  him  in  the  preceding 
part  of  his  epistle,  St.  Paul  sets  forth,  as  an  un- 
deniable principle,  that  all  have  sinned  and  come 
short  of  the  glory  of  God.  He  next  declares,  that, 
notwithstan;ling  our  violation  of  the  divine  law, 
we  are  yet  justified  fi'eely  by  his  grace  through 
the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  He  then 
proceeds  to  describe  how  we  are  redeemed  by 
Christ :  God  hath  set  him  forth  to  be  a  propitia- 
tion through  faith  in  his  blood.  And  he  lastly 
intimates,  that  this  was  done  in  order  that  the 
justice  of  God  might  be  preserved  absolutely 


36  God'>s  Justice  exemplified 

perfect  and  entire,  even  at  the  very  time  when 
he  was  extending  pardon  to  those  whose  con- 
demnation that  justice  loudly  demanded  :  to  de- 
clare his  righteousness  (or,  for  the  public  demon- 
stration  of  his  justice)  in  the  remission  of  sins 
that  are  past,  through  the  forbearance  of  God ;  I 
say,  for  the  public  demonstration  of  his  justice  at 
this  time :  that  so  he  might  be  just,  and  yet  the 
justifier  of  >■  im  which  believeth  in  Jesus. 

It  must,  I  think,  strike  every  one,  however 
singular  it  may  appear  at  the  first  view,   that 
God's  remission  of  sins  is  not  here  described  as 
an  act  of  mercy,  but  as  an  act  of  strict  and  un- 
bending ^ws^fce.     His  remission  of  them,   con- 
tradictory as  such  a  thing  might  seem,  is  yet  a 
public  demonstration  of  \\\^  justice.     The  Apos- 
tle, in  order  as  it  were  that  his  meaning  might 
he  incapable  of  misapprehension,   emphatically 
repeats  his  words  :  and,  instead  of  disguising 
the  point,  or  refusing  to  meet  the  difficulty,  he 
sums  up  the  whole,  in  what  may  well  be  termed 
the  great  legal  paradox  of  Christianity,  by  de- 
claring, that  God  accepted  the  atonement  made 
by  the  blood  of  Christ,  in  order  that  he  might  at 
once  be  just  himself,  and  yet  the  justifier  of  him 
which  believeth  in  Jesus  ;  nay,  that,  by  virtue  of 
this  powerful  atonement,  the  remission  of  sins 
should  absolutely  be  a  demonstration  of  his  jus- 
tice ;  not  of  his  merc/f  (as  the  Socinian  would 
teach  usj)  but  of  his  justice. 


in  the  Atonement  of  Christ.  37 

The  evident  drift  of  St.  Paul  is  to  shew,  how 
God  may  preserve  inviolate  his  attribute  of  jus- 
tice at  the  very  time  when  he  is  pardoning  those 
whom  strict  justice  would  condemn:  and  this 
he  teaches  us,  is  done  by  Christ  being  made  our 
substitute  and  by  his  bearing  in  his  own  person 
the  whole  weight   of  that  wrath   which  must 
otherwise  have  fallen  upon  us.     The  complete 
penalty  of  sin  was  exacted  even  to  the  uttermost 
farthing  :  and  the  most  ample  satisfaction  was 
made  to  the  divine  justice ;  but  it  was  done,  not 
by  the  sufferings  of  the  guilty,  but  by  the  suffer- 
ings of  one  placed  in  their  stead.     The  divine 
attribute  of  justice  being  now  perfectly  satisfied, 
and  a  punishment  completely  equivalent  to  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world  having  been  inflicted ; 
that  very  attribute  of  justice,  justice  not  mevcy^ 
was  now  as  much  concerned  in  pardoning  the 
sins  of  every  faithful  penitent,  as  it  was  before 
concerned  in  punishing  them,  notwithstanding 
his  repentance.     For,  precisely  as  it  would  be 
unjust  to  punish  a  man  twice  for  the  same  of- 
fence, so  it  would  be  unjust  to  punish  those 
whose  punishment  had  already  been  undergone 
by  their  surety,  Christ. 

But  it  may  be  objected.  Where  is  the  justice  of 
punishing  the  in?iocent,  and  suffering  the  guilty 
to  escape  ;  of  laying  upon  the  innocent  the  pu- 
nishment due  to  the  guilty  f    Surely  this  very 


38  God^s  Justice  exemplified 

substitution  is  in  itself  a  breach  of  that  justice,  for 
which  it  is  contended, 

I  reply,  that  such  a  substitution  would  doubt- 
less be  unjust,  if  it  were  constrained :  but,  since 
it  is  voluntary  on  the  part  of  the  substitute,  all 
shew  of  injustice  towards  him  is  done  away ;  for 
no  person's  own  free  act  and  deed,  however  in- 
jurious it  may  be  to  himself  can  be  construed 
into  an  injury  received  from  another, 

V.  Here  however  we  must  remark,  that  this 
voluntariness,  though  essential^  is  not  in  itself 
sufficient  to  constitute  an  adequate  substitute.  It 
is  obviously  necessary,  that  there  should  be  not 
only  the  will,  but  the  right ;  not  only  the  right, 
but  the  power.  Now  it  is  not  easy  to  conceive, 
how  all  these  three  requisites,  the  will,  the  right^ 
and  the  power,  should  subsist  in  any  created  be- 
ing. 

1.  We  will  first  suppose,  that  a  mere  man 
should  be  willing  to  make  satisfaction  for  the 
sins  of  the  world  by  undergoing  the  merited 
punishment. 

He  is  himself  a  sinner  :  his  own  life  is  already 
forfeit :  therefore  he  can  no  more  take  upon  him- 
self the  punishment  due  to  others,  than  a  con- 
demned malefactor  could  engage  to  lay  down  his 
life  for  a  fellow-culprit.  His  life  is  no  longer 
his  own :  it  is  already  forfeit  to  the  law.  He 
may  have  the  will ;  but  he  wants  both  the  right 
and  the  power  to  make  satisfaction  for  another. 


in  the  Atonement  of  Christ,  39 

g.  We  will  next  suppose  the  case  either  of  a 
perfectly  sinless  man,  or  of  an  incarnate  angel, 
who  should  be  willing  to  satisfy  the  justice  of 
God  by  suffering  that  death  which  was  a  punish- 
ment due  to  otiiers ;  his  own  life  by  the  hy- 
pothesis not  being  previously  forfeit. 

He  has  the  will;  and,  for  a  moment,  we  will 
grant  that  he  has  the  power,  to  make  full  satis- 
faction ;  but  in  himself  he  assuredly  has  not  the 
rigM,  No  person  can  have  a  right  to  dispose, 
according  to  his  mere  pleasure,  of  what  he  has 
received  only  upon  trust.  But  every  created  be- 
ing has  received  his  life  upon  trust.  Therefore  no 
such  being  has  a  right  to  dispose  of  it  according  to 
his  mere  pleasure.  If  he  acted  otherwise,  he  would, 
by  the  very  act  itself,  forfeit  his  sinlessness :  and 
therefore,  being  now  himself  a  violator  of  the 
law,  he  would  no  longer  have  the  power  to  make 
satisfaction  for  the  sins  of  others,  even  supposing 
that  he  had  previously  possessed  such  power, 

3.  To  this  it  might  be  replied,  that,  although 
he  possessed  not  the  right  inherently^  he  might 
possess  it  by  grant :  under  which  circumstance, 
provided  only  he  possessed  the  power,  he  would 
possess  all  the  three  requisites  in  question,  the 
power,  the  will,  and  the  right ;  the  latter,  not  in- 
deed naturally,  but  by  lawful  acquisition, 

I  allow,  then,  that  he  might  possess  the  will 
intrinsically,  and  the  right  by  grant  from  the 


40  God^s  Justice  exemplified 

Creator:  but  it  is  still  greatly  to  be  doubted, 
whether  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  the  power 
ever  could  be  possessed  by  any  created  being, 
the  circumstance  of  his  creation  necessarily  and 
inevitably  withlioldin;];  it  from  him.  Many  per- 
haps will  be  little  disposed  to  allow  the  validity 
of  the  common  argument,  that  si/?,  being  com- 
mitted against  an  infinite  Being,  requires  an  i? fi- 
nite satisfaction  ;  but  an  infinite  satisfaction  can 
only  be  made  by  an  infinite  person  :  and  infini- 
tude is  an  incommunicable  attribute  of  God;  there- 
fore Christ,  who  makes  an  infinite  satisfaction  for 
the  sins  of  the  rvorld,  must  himself  be  God :  many, 
I  say,  will  not  be  disposed  to  allow  the  validity 
of  this  argument  ;  because  a  mere  inversion  of 
the  terms  will  produce  an  exactly  opposite  con- 
clusion.* Yet  it  is  hard,  nay  impossible,  to  con- 
ceive, how  any  created  being,  however  exalted, 
can  make  satisfaction  to  the  Almighty  for  the 
sins  of  others  :  because,  let  him  be  exalted  as 
may,  his  duties  rise  in  exact  proportion  to  his 
exaltation ;  and,  when  he  has  done  all  in  his 
power  to  glorify  God,  though  not  an  unprofitable 
servant,  yet  he  has  done  no  more  than  his  duty. 
He  has  no  excess  of  merit,  whereby  he  may  at 
once  save  his  own  soul,  and  endure  the  whole 

*  See  Magee  on  Atonement  and  Sacrifice,  vol.  i.  p.  160, 
.161.     No.  xiii. 


in  the  Afo7iement  of'  Christ,  41 

tveight  of  God's  wrath  on  account  of  the  sins  of 
a  guilty  world. 

VI.  This  train  of  reasoning  seems  necessarily 
to  lead  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  person,  whose 
atonement  is  of  such  powerful  efficacy  as  to  ex- 
hibit God  perfectly  just,  even  in  the  very  act  of 
justifying  sinners,  must  himself  be  God :  because 
it  does  not  appear,  how  any  being  inferior  to 
God  could  at  once  possess  all  the  qualifications 
essential  to  the  character  of  a  substitute,  name- 
ly, the  will,  the  right,  and  the  power. 

But  Christ,  whose  Godhead  is  elsewhere  as 
positively  declared  as  it  is  here  the  apparent- 
ly necessary  result  of  abstract  reasoning ;  Christ 
possesses  all  tlie  requisite  qualifications.  The 
will  he  possesses  in  common  (it  might  be)  with 
flwz/ created  being:  the  right  he  possesses  (as 
we  believe)  inherently,  though  that  he  might 
have  possessed  only  by  grant  from  the  Deity  : 
but  the  power  is,  I  apprehend,  an  essential  attri- 
bute of  the  Godhead,  which  never  can  be  com- 
municated to  any  creature  without  that  creature 
losing  its  distinguishing  characteristic  of  a  crea- 
ture. 

Accordingly,  both  the  inherent  right  and  the 
fullporver,  which  last  completes  the  character  of 
a  sufficient  substitute,  are  expressly  claimed  for 
our  Lord.  Therefore  cloth  my  father  love  me,  saith 
he,  because  I  lay  doxvn  my  life,  that  J  might  take 

Faber,       7 


4S  GodK^i  Jiidicp,  exemplified^  ^c. 

it  again.  Ko  man  taketh  it  from  me,  but  I  lay 
it  down  of  myself  I  have  power  to  lay  it  down^ 
and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again*  So  like- 
wise, He  is  able,  saith  his  apostle,  to  save  them 
to  the  uttermost  that  come  unto  God  by  him,  see- 
ing he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them. 
For  such  an  high^priest  became  us,  who  is  holy, 
harmless,  undefiled,  separate  from  sinners,  and 
made  higher  than  the  heavens ;  who  needeth  not 
daily,  as  those  high-priests,  to  offer  up  sacrifice, 
first  for  his  orvn  sins,  and  then  for  the  people^ s  ; 
for  this  he  did  once,  when  he  offered  up  himself  \ 

VII.  In  this  manner,  and  in  this  only,  can  the 
problem  be  solved ;  that  sinful  man  should  es- 
cape the  penalty  due  to  his  sins  ;  and  that  God 
should  still  retain  inviolate  his  attribute  of  perfect 
justice. 

In  Christ  Jesus  alone,  very  God  and  very 
man,  are  the  apparently  jarring  attributes  of  jus- 
tice and  mercy  reconciled  together.  Through 
the  atonement  made  by  his  precious  blood-shed- 
ding, we  may  now  with  a  firm,  though  humble, 
confidence  look  up  to  God  as  being  at  owce^just, 
a?id  the  justifier  of  him  which  believeth  in  Jesus. 

*  John  X.  17,  18»  f  Heb.  vii.  25,  26,  27, 


SERMON  III. 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  JUSTIFICATION. 


ROMANS    VIII.     33,    34. 

Who  shall  lay  any  thing  to  the  charge  of  God's  elect  ? 
It  is  God  that  justijieth  :  who  is  he  that  condemneth? 

IN  the  discussion  of  theological  subjects,  I 
take  novelty,  at  least  novelty  of  opinion,  to  be 
no  recommendation;  rather  indeed  the  reverse. 
An  intemperate  love  of  broaching  something 
new,  has  been,  in  all  ages,  the  fruitful  parent 
of  heresy.  Yet  surely  if  any  thing  be  fixed  and 
immoveable,  if  any  thing  in  its  nature  be  inca- 
pable of  change  ;  it  must  be  the  leading  doc- 
trines of  divine  revelation.  To  them,  above  all 
other  matters,  we  may  apply  the  exhortation 
of  the  prophet:  Stand  ye  in  thexvays:  and  see, 
and  ask  for  the  old  paths,  where  is  the  good  way; 
and  walk  therein,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  for  your 
sotils»* 

*Jerem.  vi.  16. 


* 


44  Tlie  Doctrine  of  Justification, 

Yet,  while  it  is  our  duty  to  disclaim  all  pre- 
tensions to  novelty ;  it  is  no  less  our  duty,  as 
occasion  serves,  to  restate  and  enforce,  from 
time  to  time,  the  great  truths  of  religion.  The 
labours  of  our  forefathers  are  apt  to  be  disre- 
garded by  the  careless  and  inconsiderate,  mere- 
ly because  their  productions  now  wear  a  some- 
what antiquated  garb,  This  circumstance  alone, 
even  if  there  were  no  other  reason,  forbids  us 
to  rest  in  listless  indolence  ;  and  gives  a  never 
ceasing  importance  to  the  expository  part  of 
the  ministerial  function.  Truths,  however  un- 
doubted, when  never  referred  to,  become  in  a 
manner  absolete.  The  fundamental  doctrines 
of  Christianity  therefore  ought  to  enter  more  or 
less  fully  into  all  our  discourses.  The  practice 
of  the  Gospel  ought  ever  to  be  built  upon  the 
principles  of  the  Gospel.  Yet  there  are  pecu- 
liar seasons,  w^hen  it  may  be  expedient  to  dis- 
cuss each  particular  doctrine,  if  not  more  fully, 
yet  in  a  somewhat  more  regular  and  scholastic 
form,  than  might  be  deemed  adviseable  before 
mixed  congregations. 

If  the  end  of  the  Gospel  be  the  reconciliation 
of  man  with  God,  and  if  it  be  therefore  of  prime 
importance  to  ascertain  how  that  reconciliation 
is  effected:  then  the  doctrine  of  Justification 
may  claim  to  itself  a  sort  of  precedency  over  all 
other  doctrines ;  then  one  of  the  greatest  fathers 
of  the  reformation  did  not  err,  when  he  pro- 


The  Doctrine  of  Justification.  4.5 

nounced  it  to  be  the  badge  of  a  standing  or  of 
a  falling  church,  according  as  it  was  held  soundly 
or  unsoundly.*  Its  importance,  indeed,  suffi- 
ciently appears  from  the  conclusion  of  the  argu- 
ment, which  runs  through  the  whole  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  To  them,  who  have 
departed  from  the  sound  holding  of  this  grand 
doctrine,  it  is  declared,  that  Christ  shall  profit 
nothing;  that  Christ  is  become  of  no  effect.^ 
Surely  then  it  is  of  unspeakable  moment  both 
to  ourselves  and  to  our  congregations,  that  we 
should  take  heed  to  ourselves  that  we  are  sound 
in  the  faith ;  that  we  should  not  rest  in  the  su- 
perficial consideration  of  such  a  point ;  but  that 
we  should  labour  to  be  well  grounded  in  it. 
that  so,  in  the  awful  day  of  reckoning,  we  may 
save  both  ourselves  and  those  committed  to  our 
care. 

I.  In  discussing  this  subject,  the  first  matter 
necessary  seems  to  be  to  acquire  a  clear  concep- 
tion of  the  term. 

The  words  Justify  and  Justification  occur  in 
Scripture  in  various  senses,  just  as  we  are  ac- 
customed to  use  them  in  our  ordinary  conversa- 
tion :  but  we  have  at  present  only  occasion  to 
concern  ourselves  with  what  may  eminently  be 
styled  their  theological  sense ;  I  mean  the  sense, 

■  #  Articulus  stantis  aut  cadentis  ecclesise.     Luther, 
t  Gal.  V.  2,  4. 


46  The  Doctrine  of  Justification. 

in  which  St.  Paul,  who  has  more  formally  treated 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  than  any  of  the 
other  apostles,  uses  them  to  describe  the  mode 
and  ground  of  our  acceptance  with  God. 

Now  the  sense,  in  which  he  employs  them 
for  this  purpose,  may  be  gathered  with  singular 
definiteness  from  the  words  which  I  have  cho- 
sen for  my  text. 

Who  shall  lay  any  thing  to  the  charge  of  God^s 
elect  ?  It  is  God  that  justifieth :  who  is  he  that 
condemneth  ? 

The  phraseology  of  this  passage  is  manifestly 
forensic.  The  elect  of  God  are  put  upon  their 
trial.  Charges  of  various  descriptions  are  plead- 
ed against  them.  Yet,  however  aggravated  these 
charges  may  be,  whatever  degree  of  truth  they 
may  contain  (and  alas !  they  are  but  too  true)  ; 
who  shall  presume  to  condemn,  since  it  is  God 
that  justifieth  ?  Here  Justification  is  plainly  used 
antithetically  to  Condemnation.  But  the  oppo- 
site of  Condemnation  is  Acquittal.  Therefore 
the  theological  sense  of  Justification  must  be  Ac- 
quittal. It  is  acknowledged  however,  that  the 
charges  brought  against  the  elect  are  true,  and 
consequently  that  they  deserve  Condemnation  ra- 
ther than  Acquittal.  Hence,  although  acquitted 
when  put  upon  their  trial,  they  evidently  cannot 
be  acquitted  precisely  in  that  sense  of  the  word 
which  isusual  in  our  courts  of  justice :  that  is  to  say 
they  cannot  be  acquitted  as  innocent  persons, 


The  Doctrine  of  Justification.  47 

against  whom  certain  accusations  have  been 
falsely  preferred.  Justification,  therefore,  is  a 
complex  idea  :  it  involves  the  notion  of  Pardon 
as  well  as  of  Acquittal.*  In  this  sense  accord- 
ingly we  find  it  used  :  All  have  sinned  and  come 
short  of  the  glory  of  God  ;  being  justified  freely  by 
his  grace  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus  ;  whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propiti- 
ation through  faith  in  his  bloody  to  declare  his 
righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins  that  are 
past,  through  the  forbearance  of  God.  ^ 

But  here  it  may  be  asked,  does  not  this  com- 
plex idea  involve  a  sort  of  contradiction  ?  How 
can  the  allowedly  guilty  be  not  only  pardoned, 
but  acquitted  ?  How  is  such  a  procedure  recon- 
cileable  with  the  divine  attribute  of  justice  ? 

This  is,  if  I  may  so  speak,  the  grand  Christian 
paradox  ;  a  paradox  which  can  only  be  resolved 
by  a  right  understanding  of  the  doctrine  of  Jus- 
tification. The  Apostle  was  aware  of  this  ap- 
parent contradiction  :  and  therefore  immediate- 
ly after  the  words  last  cited,  he  adds.  To  declare^ 
I  say,  at  this  time  his  righteousness :  that  he 
might  be  just,  and  the  jiistifier  of  him  which  be- 
lieveth  in  Jesus. t 

*  "  God's  justifying,  solely  or  chiefly,  doth  import  his  ac- 
quitting us  from  guilt,  condemnation,  and  punishment,  by  free 
pardon  and  remission  of  our  sins,  accounting  us,  and  dealing 
with  us,  as  just  persons,  upright  and  innocent  in  his  sight  and 
esteem,"     Barrow's  Sermon  of  Justification  by  faith.  §.  V. 

t  Rom,  iii.  23, 24,  25,         ±  Rom.  iii.  26. 


48  The  Doctrine  of  Justification. 

II.  The  difficulty,  however,  is  not  yet  remov- 
ed :  the  question  still  recurs,  how  God  can  be 
just,  and  yet  the  justifier,  the  acquitting  pardon' 
er,  of  those  who  are  clearly  guilty.  For  a  so- 
lution of  this  question  we  must  consider  the 
grounds  of  our  justification  before  God. 

Now  we  can  only  be  justified  before  a  just 
God  by  righteousness  of  some  sort ;  by  our  own 
righteousness^  or  the  righteousness  of  some  other 
person.  That  we  have  7Zfl^2/ra%  no  righteousness 
of  our  own,  and  that  our  justification  is  merited 
and  procured  by  Christ,  is  alike  the  opinion  of 
Romanists  and  Protestants.  But,  in  the  essence 
of  justification,  and  in  the  manner  wherein  it  is 
conveyed  to  us,  there  is  a  very  material  differ- 
ence between  them. 

1.  Aware  that  Scripture  will  not  bear  them 
out  in  ascribing  to  man  by  nature  such  righteous- 
ness as  can  merit  his  justification,  yet  being 
equally  aware,  that  without  sufficient  righteous- 
ness o^some  description  no  man  can  be  justified, 
the  Romanists  maintain,  that  the  righteousness 
in  question  is  a  divine  spiritual  quality,  merited 
for  us  by  Christ,  and  infused  into  the  souls  of 
each  of  us. 

This  infused  quality  (they  say)  renders  our 
good  works  meritorious,  and  therefore  effectual 
to  procure  our  justification :  and  our  good  works, 
being  thus  rendered  meritorious,  deserve  and 


The  Doctrine  of  Justification.  49 

procure  an  augmentation  of  the  infused  quality 
which  produced  them.  The  first  reception  of 
this  quahty,  which  they  term  grace^  is,  in  their 
divinity,  what  they  call  the  first  Justification  : 
while  the  augmentation  of  it  they  consider  as  a 
second  Justification,  As  Grace,  after  its  original 
reception,  may  be  increased  by  the  meritorious- 
ness  of  the  works  which  itself  produces  ;  so  may 
it  be  diminished  by  the  demerit  of  venial  sin, 
and  lost  by  the  greater  demerit  of  mortal  sin. 
if  it  be  only  diminished,  it  may  be  repaired  by 
holy  water,  Ave  Marias,  crossings,  and  the  like : 
if  it  be  altogether  lost,  it  must  be  reprocured  by 
the  sacrament  (as  they  style  it)  of  Penance. 
Yet,  when  reprocured,  it  hath  not  the  same  pow- 
er that  it  originally  had.  For  it  only  removes 
the  guilt  of  the  mortal  sin  which  hath  been  coni- 
mitted,  changing  the  eternal  punishment  due  to 
it  into  a  temporal  satisfactory  punishment,  either 
here  or  hereafter :  here^  if  there  be  sufficient 
time  for  the  infliction  of  the  requisite  mortifica- 
tion ;  hereafter^  in  purgatory,  if  there  be  not. 
Nevertheless,  the  pains  of  purgatory  may  be 
either  lightened,  shortened,  or  quite  removed, 
by  masses  and  other  observances,  by  pardon  for 
a  certain  term^  or  by  plenary  pardon. 

Nor  is  this  the  whole  of  their  system.  Though 
they  believe,  that  we  need  infused  Grace  to  en- 
able us  to  perform  such  good  works  as  may  merit 

Faber.  8 


00  The  Doctrine  of  Justification. 

our  justification  :  yet  they  likewise  maintain, 
that  this  very  Grace  itself,  which  we  have  not 
by  nature,  may  be  deserved  on  account  of  works 
done  by  us  antecedently  to  its  reception,  if  not 
of  co?idig?iity,  yet  (as  the  schoolmen  express  it) 
of  congruity.  This,  as  the  judicious  Hooker 
strongly  remarks,  is  the  mystery  of  the  man  of 
sin.  This  maze  the  Church  of  Rome  doth  cause 
her  followers  to  tread,  when  they  ask  her  the  way 
to  justification."^ 

It  is  not  very  difficult  to  shew  the  irreconcile- 
ableness  of  such  doctrine  with  Scripture. 

St.  Paul  repeatedly  declares,  that  our  justifica- 
tion is  solely  by  faith  in  the  merits  of  Christ,  and 
not  by  our  own  workings  or  deservings.  Where 
is  boasting  ?  saith  he.  It  is  excluded.  By  what 
law  ?  of  works  ?  Kay :  but  by  the  lazv  of  faith. 
Therefore  we  conclude  (a  conclusion  drawn  from 
the  preceding  argument,  that,  since  all  have  sin- 
ned, all  without  exception  must  be  justified  free- 
ly by  grace  through  the  redemption  of  Christ  Je- 
sus) Therefore  we  conclude,  that  a  man  is  justi- 
fied by  faith  without  the  deeds  of  the  Law.-f  And, 
that  the  moral  Law,  not  merely  the  ceremonial 
Law,  is  here  meant,  is  manifest,  both  from  the 
circumstance  of  Abraham  being  adduced  as  an 
example  who  hved  before  the  institution  of  the 

*  Discourse  of  Justification.  §  5,  f  Rom.  iii.  27, 28, 


The  Doctrine  of  Justification.  5i 

ceremonial  Law,  and  from  the  drift  of  the  whole 
argument  which  goes  to  prove  that  all  are  sin- 
ners. Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews.  Accordingly, 
the  x^postle  elsewliere  places  works,  so  far  as 
the  meritorious  cause  of  justification  is  concern- 
ed, in  direct  opposition  to  grace.  There  is  a 
remnant  according  to  the  election  of  grace,  Afid, 
if  by  grace,  then  it  is  no  more  of  ivorks :  other- 
rvise  grace  is  no  more  grace.  But,  if  it  be  of 
works,  then  it  is  no  more  grace  •*  otherwise 
work  is  no  more  work.^  Now,  in  the  Romish 
system,  our  own  works  are  made  the  cause  me- 
ritorious of  our  justification.  It  is  of  little  avail 
to  m-ge,  that  the  righteousness,  whereby  they 
contend  we  are  justified,  is  not  naturally  and  in- 
dependently our  own,  but  that  it  is  the  fruit  of  a 
divine  principle  infused  into  us.  If  the  right- 
eousness be  composed  of  righteous  actions  per- 
formed by  us,  it  is  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
our  own  righteousness.  The  derivation  from 
God,  of  the  power  to  perform  those  actions  does 
not  make  them  the  less  o^ir  actions,  unless  to 
the  communicated  pozver  of  performing  them  be 
superadded  a  fatal  necessity  of  performing  them, 
which  is  not  pretended  to  be  the  case.  Upon 
the  Romish  system,  we  might  just  as  well  argue 
that  nothing  is  our  own :  for  what  is  there^ 

*  Rom.  xi,  5,  6. 


d2  The  Doctrine  of  Justification. 

either  natural  or  spiritual,  which  we  have  not 
received  from  God  either  at  our  birth  or  subse- 
quent to  it  ?  Hence  it  is  manifest,  that,  accord- 
ing to  such  a  system,  the  whole  argument  of 
the  Apostle  is  nugatory :  for  it  were  mere  tri- 
fling to  place  our  works,  be  they  performed  as 
they  may,  in  direct  contradistinction  to  grace,  if 
it  might  be  replied  that  our  works  are  no  more 
our  own  than  grace  itself,  inasmuch  as  the  power 
to  perform  tliem  is  derived  from  God. 

"  What  then,  is  the  fault  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  ?  Not  that  she  requireth  works  at  their 
hands  which  will  be  saved :  but  that  she  attri- 
buteth  unto  works  a  power  of  satisfying  God  for 
sin,  a  virtue  to  merit  both  grace  here  and  in 
heaven  glory — He,  which  maketh  any  work  good 
and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God  to  proceed 
from  the  natural  freedom  of  our  will ;  he,  which 
giveth  unto  any  good  works  of  ours  the  force  of 
satisfying  the  wrath  of  God  for  sin,  the  power 
of  meriting  either  earthly  or  heavenly  rewards  ; 
he,  which  holdeth  works  going  before  our  vo- 
cation in  congruity  to  merit  our  vocation,  works 
following  our  first  to  merit  our  second  justifica- 
tion and  by  condignity  our  last  reward  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven:  he  pulleth  up  the  doctrine 
of  faith  by  the  roots  ;  for  out  of  every  one  of  these 
the  plain  direct  denial  thereof  may  be  necessa- 
rily concluded — By  grace,  the  Apostle  saith,  and 


The  Doctrine  of  Justification.  53 

by  grace  in  such  a  sort  as  a  gift ;  a  thing,  that 
coraeth  not  of  ourselves  nor  of  our  works,  lest 
any  man  should  boast  and  say,  /  have  wrought 
out  my  own  salvation.  By  grace  they  confess  ; 
but  by  grace  in  such  sort,  that  as  many  as  wear 
the  diadem  ofbliss,  they  wear  nothing  but  what 
they  have  won."* 

S.  The  time  would  fail  me  to  shew  what  gross 
errors,  particularly  the  monstrous  error  of  su- 
pererogatory merit,  may  be  traced  up  to  the 
Romish  doctrine  of  justification.  The  detection 
of  falsehood  is  the  best  preparation  for  the  state- 
ment of  truth.  I  proceed,  therefore,  to  exhibit 
the  Protestant  doctrine  of  Justification,  or,  I 
should  rather  say,  the  scriptural  doctrine  of  it. 

It  has  already  been  observed,  that  we  can  only 
be  justified  either  by  our  own  righteousness,  or 
the  righteousness  of  some  other  person.  By 
our  own  we  certainly  cannot.  Therefore  we 
must  be  justified  by  some  external  righteous- 
ness :  and  that  righteousness  is  the  righteous- 
ness of  our  Saviour  Christ,  apprehended  by  faith 
and  imputed  to  us  by  the  grace  of  God.  We  are 
not  justified  by  this  righteousness  being  infused 
into  us  ;  but  by  its  being  so  imputed  to  us,  that 
at  the  bar  of  heaven  it  is  reckoned  as  our  own 
and  pleaded  by  our  great  advocate  in  arrest  of 

*  Hooker's  Discourse  of  Justification.  ^  32,  34. 


54!  The  Doctrine  of  Justification. 

judgment.  Hence  Christ  is  said  to  be  made 
righteousness  unto  us.*  Hence  this  righteous- 
ness which  is  styled  the  righteousness  of  God,  is 
said  to  be  by  faith  of  Jesus  Christ  unto  all  and 
upon  all  them  that  believe  :  for  there  is  no  dif- 
ference, inasmuch  as  all  have  sinned,  and  come 
short  of  the  glory  of  God.f  Hence  we  are  told, 
that  the  faith  of  Abraham  was  counted  unto  him 
for  righteous?iess  :  and  the  method  of  this  count- 
ing is  immediately  after  explained  to  us  with 
much  precision:  Now  to  him  that  worketh  is 
the  reward  not  reckoned  of  grace,  but  of  debt  ,• 
but  to  him  that  worketh  not,  but  belie veth  on 
him  that  justifieth  the  ungodly,  his  faith  is 
counted  for  righteousness. J  Hence  we  read  of 
the  blessedness  of  the  man  unto  whom  God  im. 
puteth  righteousness  without  works. §  And  hence, 
since  faith  is  the  instrument  whereby  we  appre- 
hend the  righteousness  of  Christ,  we  are  said  to 
be  justified  by  faith  ;  ||  which  is,  in  effect,  the 
same  as  our  being  justified  by  grace  tlu'ough 
faitli  :^  and,  since  we  can  do  no  works  pleasing 
unto  God  without  faith,**  and  since  consequently 
we  can  do  no  works  theologically  good  previous 
to  our  justification,  St.  Paul  draws  the  concku 

*  1  Corin.  i.  30.  f  Rom.  iii.  22, 23. 

if;  Rom.  iv.  3,  4,  5.  ^  Rom.  iv.  6. 

II  Rom.  V.  1.  ^  Ephes.  ii.  8. 

**  Heb.  xi.  6.     Rom.  xlv.  23, 


The  Doctrine  of  Justification,  5  5 

sion,  that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith  without  the 
deeds  of  the  law.  * 

On  these  authorities  our  church  rightly  de- 
termines, that  we  "  are  accounted  righteous  be- 
fore God  (accounted  only,  not  actually  made 
righteoust),  only  for  the  merit  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ  by  faith,  and  not  for  our  own 
works  or  deservings.  Wherefore  that  we  are 
justified  by  faith  only  is  a  most  wholesome  doc- 
trine, and  very  full  of  comfort." J  And,  on  the 
same  authorities,  she  further  decides  respecting 
works  done  before  justification,  that  they  are  not 
^pleasing  to  God.^  But,  if  works  done  before 
justification  be  not  pleasing  unto  God,  then  no 
works  of  ours  can,  in  any  shape,  be  the  procur- 
ing came  of  justification  :  for,  if  we  can  do  no 
good  works  until  we  be  first  justified,  and  if  even 
the  good  works  done  after  our  justification  and 
in  consequence  of  it  cannot  put  away  our  sins 
and  endure  the  severity  of  God^s  judgment  ;\\  then 
our  justification  must  necessarily  be  wholly  in- 
dependent of  our  works. 

*  Rom.  iii.  28. 

f  By  this  merit  it  is  that  we  are  accounted  righteous  before 
God ;  where  we  may  take  notice  by  the  way,  how  our  being 
justified  is  here  expressed  by  our  being  accounted  righteous, 
and  not  by  our  being  made  righteous.  Bp.  Beveridge  on  Art. 
xi, 

:j:  Art.  xi.         §  Art.  xiii.  j|  Art.  xii. 


56  The  Boctrine  of  Justification. 

Thus,  so  far  as  the  cause  meritorious  of  our 
justification  is  concerned,  we  arrive  at  the  con- 
clusion ;  that  we  are  justified  solely  by  grace 
through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  his  all-perfect 
righteousness  being  imputed  unto  us,  and  thence 
in  the  court  of  heaven  accounted  as  our  righ- 
teousness. 

Zealous  as  we  ought  to  be  of  good  works  in 
their  proper  place,  here,  in  the  article  of  justi- 
fication, we  must  altogether  renounce  them. 
We  must  reckon  them,  as  altogether  nothing. 
We  must  not  presume,  in  the  slightest  degree,  to 
build  upon  them.  We  must  not  imagine,  that 
they  can  purchase  heaven  for  us.  We  must  not 
dare  to  plead  them  in  arrest  of  judgment.  Be- 
fore God  our  only  suit  must  be,  that  we  are  sin- 
ners ;  that  Christ  is  righteous  ;  that  he  was  im- 
putatively  made  sin  for  us  who  knew  no  sin, 
that  we  might  imputatively  be  made  the  righ- 
teousness of  God  in  him.* 

And  alas  !  what  are  our  works,  that  we  should 
even  think  of  pleading  them,  that  we  should 
even  dream  of  being  justified  on  any  other 
ground  than  faith  alone  in  the  righteousness  of 
Christ  ?  Our  very  best  deeds,  performed  after 
our  very  best  fashion,  what  are  they  ?  Take  in- 
to the  account  their  fewness,  their  imperfec- 

*  Art.  xii. 


The  Doctrine  of  Justification.  57 

tion,  their  debasement  by  the  admixture  of  hu- 
man motives  and  by-regards,  their  constrained- 
ness,  the  little  reverence  to  the  High  Majesty  of 
heaven  with  which  they  have  been  performed ; 
take  into  the  account  the  mere  negativeness  of 
what  we  not  unfrequently  reckon  as  good 
works,  the  absence,  the  only  partial,  absence  of 
evil,  rather  than  the  presence  of  actual  good  ; 
and  short  and  defective  indeed,  God  knoweth, 
will  be  the  catalogue  of  them.  It  would  sound 
strangely  in  the  ears  of  the  blessed  angels  to 
hear  fallen  man  exulting  in  the  supposed  dignity 
of  his  moral  merit,  and  claiming  the  happiness 
of  heaven  as  a  debt  due  to  his  good  works.  How 
much  more  strangely  then  must  it  sound  in  the 
ears  of  that  God,  in  whose  sight  the  heavens  are 
not  clean,  and  who  chargeth  his  angelg  with 
folly.  High  as  the  thoughts  of  some  may  be  at 
present,  when  death  cometh  upon  them  as  an 
armed  man,  and  when  they  stand  trembling  upon 
the  verge  of  eternity,  they  will  then  feel  how 
little  they  can  venture  to  build  upon  their  very 
best  deeds.  They  will  then  feel  that  there  is  no 
solid  ground  of  comfort,  no  stable  hope  of  ac- 
ceptance, but  in  the  alone  merits  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Admirably  clear  and  decisive  is  the  language 
of  our  venerable  Church  on  this  important  point 
of  doctrine. 

Faber.     9 


58  The  Doctrine  of  Justification. 

"  The  true  understanding  of  this  doctrine,  w^ 
be  justified  freely  by  faith  without  works,  or  that 
we  be  justified  by  faith  only,  is — that  although  we 
hear  God's  word  and  believe  it ;  although  we 
have  faith,  hope,  charity,  repentance,  dread,  and 
fear  of  God,  within  us,  and  do  never  so  many 
works  thereunto ;  yet  we  must  renounce  the 
merit  of  all  our  said  virtues,  of  faith,  hope,  chari- 
ty, and  all  other  virtues  and  good  deeds,  which 
we  either  have  done,  shall  do,  or  can  do,  as 
things  that  be  far  too  weak  and  insufficient  and 
imperfect  to  deserve  remission  of  our  sins  and 
our  justification  :  and  therefore  we  must  trust 
only  in  God's  mercy,  and  that  sacrifice  which 
our  High  Priest  and  Saviour  Christ  Jesus  the 
Son  of  God  once  offered  for  us  upon  the  cross, 
to  obtain  thereby  God's  grace  and  remission,  as 
well  of  our  original  sin  in  baptism,  as  of  all  ac- 
tual sin  committed  by  us  after  our  baptism,  if  we 
truly  repent  and  turn  unfeignedly  to  him  again. 
We  put  our  faith  in  Christ,  that  we  be  justified 
by  him  only ;  that  we  be  justified  by  God's  free 
mercy  and  the  merits  of  our  Saviour  Christ  only, 
and  by  no  virtue  or  good  works  of  our  own,  that 
is  in  us,  or  that  we  can  be  able  to  have  or  to  do  for 
to  deserve  the  same  ;  Christ  himself  only  being 
the  cause  meritorious  thereof."* 

*  Homily  of  Salvation,  Part  ii.  and  iii. 


The  Doctrine  of  Justification.  69 

III.  This  statement  of  the  doctrine  of  Justifi- 
cation has  had  various  objections  alleged  against 
it  in  all  ages. 

1.  The  most  common  objection  to  it,  and  (I 
believe)' the  most  ancient,  is,  that  it  relaxes  the 
bonds  of  morality;  that  it  encom^ages  licentious- 
ness ;  that  it  is  Uable  to  be  grossly  abused.  If 
we  are  to  be  justified  by  faith  alone,  it  has  fre- 
quently been  asked,  what  need  have  we  to  be 
anxious  in  the  performance  of  good  works  9 

It  is  not  to  be  dissembled,  that  the  doctrine 
has  been  miserably  and  dangerously  perverted 
by  the  impure  speculations  of  Antinomianism, 
But  what  then  ?  Are  we  to  give  up  the  very 
fundamental  doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  because 
it  has  been  abused  by  the  evil-minded  to  their 
own  destruction  ?  No :  the  doctrine  we  must 
retain,  we  must  guard  as  our  best  treasure. 
We  must  retain  it,  but  protest  against  the  per- 
version of  it. 

Such  was  the  method  adopted  by  St.  Paul. 
After  fully  stating  the  doctrine,  he  anticipates 
and  reprobates  the  abuse  of  it.  What  shall  we 
say  then  ?  Shall  we  continue  in  sin,  that  ^grace 
may  abound  ?  God  forbid.  How  shall  we  that 
are  dead  to  sin,  live  any  longer  therein  ?^  The 
mercy  of  God  in  freely  justifying  us  by  the  alone 

*  Rom.  vi.  1,  2. 


60  The  Bodrine  of  Justification. 

merits  of  his  Son,  independently  of  any  work- 
ings or  deservings  on  our  parts,  so  far  from  en- 
couraging us  to  wallow  in  the  mire  of  iniquity, 
ought  rather  to  stir  us  up  to  shew  our  gratitude 
to  our  heavenly  benefactor  for  the  infinite  grace 
which  he  hath  bestowed  upon  us.  And  such  al- 
ways will  be  its  effect,  wherever  the  doctrine  is 
received  into  the  heart  with  sanctification,  and 
not  merely  admitted  by  the  intellect  as  a  barren, 
unprofitable  theory. 

But,  unless  I  greatly  mistake,  the  Apostle's 
mode  of  repelling  the  danger  of  Antinomian 
abuse  is  profitable,  not  only  for  reproof  and  cor- 
rection, but  likewise  for  doctrine  and  instruc- 
tion. It  seems  to  me  to  prove  most  decidedly, 
that  justification^  as  explained  by  the  protestant 
chuirhes,  is  the  very  justification  set  forth  to  us 
in  Scripture, 

St.  Paul  is  evidently  conscious,  that  the  doc- 
trine proposed  by  him  was  liable  to  be  perverted 
by  Antinomian  teachers,  to  the  worst  kind  of  li- 
centiousness, a  licentiousness  horribly  deduced 
from  Scripture  itself.  Now  the  doctrine,  as  ex- 
plained by  the  Church  of  Rome,  namely  that  we 
are  justified  by  the  good  works  which  we  perform 
in  consequence  of  the  infusion  of  grace,  is  certain- 
ly not  liable  to  the  peculiar  kind  of  abuse  guard- 
ed against  by  the  Apostle :  while  the  doctrine, 
as  explained  by  the  protestant  churches,  namely 


The  Doctrine  of  Justification.  61 

that  we  are  justified  by  the  sole  merits  of  Christ 
through  faith  and  not  in  the  slightest  degree  by 
our  awn  works,  is  plainly  liable  to  the  very  abuse 
which  the  Apostle  guards  against.  Hence  it  is 
certain,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Romanists  can- 
not be  his  doctrine ;  because,  if  it  were,  his  re- 
pelling argument  would  be  altogether  irrevelant 
and  out  of  place :  he  would  be  combating  an  ab- 
solute shadow,  an  impossible  abuse.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe, 
that  the  doctrine  of  the  Protestants  is  his  doc- 
trine, both  because  it  is  expressed  in  the  very 
language  of  St.  Paul,  and  because  it  is  undoubt- 
edly liable  in  the  hands  of  bad  men  to  the  very 
perversion  to  which  he  acknowledges  that  his 
doctrine  is  liable. 

That  this  is  an  accurate  statement,  is  suffi- 
ciently manifest  from  the  conduct  of  the  Roman- 
ists themselves. 

At  and  after  the  time  of  the  reformation,  they 
were  loud  in  objecting  to  the  Protestants,  that 
the  doctrine  of  Justification,  as  taught  by  them, 
served  only  to  encourage  licentiousness ;  for 
that,  if  men  were  justified  by  faith  only,  and  not 
by  works,  an  inducement  would  be  held  out  to 
them  to  continue  in  sin. 

/  In  making  this  objection,  they  appear  not  to 
have  considered,  that,  by  the  confession  of  St. 
Paul  himself  it  might  equally  be  made  to  his 


62  The  Doctrine  of  Justification, 

statement  of  the  doctrine  of  Justification,  Witli 
the  same  propriety,  that  they  charged  the  pro- 
testant  churches  with  encouraging  licentious- 
ness, they  might  have  charged  the  Apostle  him- 
self ;  that  is  to  say,  with  no  propriety  whatso- 
ever. So  far  as  the  cause  meritorious  of  our  jus- 
tification is  concerned,  the  Apostle  and  the  pro- 
testant  churches  alike  maintain,  that  we  are  jus- 
tified by  faith  without  works,*  by  faith  in  the 
merits  of  Christ  independently  of  any  deserv- 
ing on  our  parts :  so  far  as  this  doctrine  is  mis- 
chievously abused  by  evil  men,  to  the  purposes 
of  licentiousness^  they  alike  protest  against  the 
abuse,  and  declare  that  they  sanction  not  any 
such  consequences.  Shall  we  continue  in  sin, 
that  grace  may  abound?  God  forbid,  indignant- 
ly exclaims  the  Apostle.  How  shall  we,  that 
are  dead  to  sin,  live  any  longer  therein  ?-f  "  It 
is  a  childish  cavil,"  says  the  judicious  Hooker, 
"  wherewith,  in  the  matter  of  justification,  our 
adversaries  do  so  greatly  please  themselves,  ex- 
claiming, that  we  tread  all  Christian  virtues  un- 
der our  feet,  and  require  nothing  in  Christians 
but  faith  ;  because  we  teach  thsit  faith  alone  jus- 
tifieth  :  whereas  by  this  speech  we  never  meant 
to  exclude  either  hope  or  charity  from  being  al- 
ways joined  as  inseparable  mates  with  faith  in 

^  Rom.  iii.  27,  28.  f  Rom.  vi.  1,  2, 


The  Doctrine  of  Justification,  63 

the  man  that  is  justified  ;  or  works  from  being 
added  as  necessary  duties,  required  at  the  hands 
of  every  justified  man  :  but  to  shew,  that  faith 
is  the  only  hand  which  putteth  on  Christ  unto 
justification  ;  and  Christ,  the  only  garment, 
which,  being  so  put  on,  covereth  the  shame  of 
our  defiled  natures ;  hideth  the  imperfection  of 
our  works ;  preserveth  us  blameless  in  the  sight 
of  God,  before  whom  otherwise  the  weakness  of 
our  faith  were  cause  sufficient  to  make  us  cul- 
pable, yea  to  shut  us  from  the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven, where  nothing  that  is  not  absolute  can  en- 
ter."* 

It  is  indeed  hard  to  say,  why  the  protestant 
doctrine  oi  Justification  should  be  charged  with 
undervaluing  good  works,  merely  because  it  as- 
signs to  them  their  proper  place  and  office. 

Shall  we  be  thought  to  depreciate  the  utility 
of  food  and  medicine,  because  we  deny  that 
medicine  can  be  used  as  food,  or  food  as  medi- 
cine ?  Do  we  not  at  once  perceive,  that  each  is 
good  in  its  place,  each  out  of  its  place  mischie- 
vous and  prejudicial  ?  Just  so  is  it  with  good 
works.  Because  we  deny  that  they  are  in  any 
shape  the  procuring  cause  of  our  justication,  do 
we  therefore  deny  that  they  are  the  necessary 
consequence  of  it  ?    Because  we  allow  them  not 

*  Discourse  of  Justification.  §  31. 


64  The  Doctrine  of  Justification. 

merit,  are  we  therefore  the  preachers  of  immo' 
rality  ?  Can  they  be  performed  from  no  other 
motive,  than  that  of  enabhng  us  to  set  down 
God  in  our  debt-books,  than  that  of  proudly  de- 
manding from  him  the  happiness  of  heaven  as 
no  more  than  the  just  recompense  of  our  meri- 
torious exertions  ?  While  we  deny  their  meri- 
toriousness  as  a  plea,  while  we  cast  ourselves 
wholly  on  the  mercy  of  God  through  Christ ;  we 
cease  not  to  declare,  that  they  are  the  only  sure 
proofs  and  evidences  of  justification  ;  that  they 
necessarily  (that  is,  by  moral  necessity)  follow 
after  it,  though  they  go  not  before  it ;  that  they 
are  inseparable  from  the  state  and  condition  of  a 
really  justified  man ;  that  no  one  who  bringeth 
not  forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance  hath  a  right 
to  consider  himself  as  being  in  that  state. 

In  short,  the  difference  between  the  Romanists 
and  the  Protestants,  is  this. 

They  alike  hold  the  necessity  of  good  works: 
but  they  hold  it  in  different  senses  of  the  word 
necessity.  The  Romanists  hold  their  necessity 
in  the  matter  of  justification  (for  to  this  point 
their  doctrine,  however  large  may  be  the  cir- 
cle in  which  it  moves,  must  ultimately  be 
brought :)  the  Protestants  hold  their  necessity 
only  in  the  matter  of  duty.  We  acknowledge,  as 
Hooker  states  the  question  with  admirable  clear- 
ness, We  acknowledge  a  dutiful  iiecessity  of  doing 


The  Doctrine  of  Justification,  65 

well,  hut  the  meritorious  dignity  of  doing  well  we 
utterly  renounce,^  Thus,  though  we  renounce 
good  works,  and  altogether  reject  them  in  the 
article  of  justification  ;  we  enforce  them  as  the 
undoubted  duty  of  every  Christian  man,  as  the 
only  sure  evidence  whereby  he  can  be  known  to 
be  a  Christian  man.  Thus  do  we  disclaim  the 
Popish  doctrine  of  merit  in  all  its  ramifications  ; 
while  we  hold  out  no  encouragement,  as  our 
adversaries  have  slanderously  misrepresented 
us,  to  the  crude  abominations  of  the  Antinomian 
heresy. 

S.  There  is  yet  another  objection  to  the  doc- 
trine of  Justification,  as  taught  by  the  Church  of 
England,  deduced  from  the  well  known  passage 
in  the  epistle  of  St.  James,  wherein  he  teaches, 
that  a  man  is  justified  by  works,  and  not  by  faith 
only.f 

On  this  it  may  be  observed,  that,  since  St  Paul 
declares  that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith  alone 
without  works  ;  and  reasons  upon  this  proposi- 
tion, that,  if  it  were  not  so,  grace  would  be  no 
longer  grace  :  and,  since  St.  James  declares,  that 
a  man  is  justified  by  works,  and  not  by  faith  only: 
it  is  a  clear  case,  that  these  two  propositions 
cannot  stand  together,  unless  some  of  the  terms 
which  they  contain  be  used  in  different  senses. 

*  Discourse  of  Justification,  §  7.  f  James  ii.  24. 

Faber.       lO 


66  The  Doctrine  of  Justification, 

Now  the  terms  which  they  contain,  are  Justi- 
fication, Faith,  and  Works.     The  question  there- 
fore is,  which  of  these  terms  is  variously  used  by 
the  two  Apostles. 

The  most  natural  solution,  because  the  most 
accordant  with  the  context,  seems  to  be,  that  the 
terms  so  used  are  Justification  and  Faith. 

St.  Paul  speaking  of  Justification  in  its  naked, 
abstract,  theological  sense,  of  Pardon  and  Ac- 
quittal, declares  that  the  procuring  cause  of  it  is 
a  lively  faith  in  the  merits  of  Christ ;  a  faith, 
whereby  the  believer  submits  himself  to  him  as 
his  king,  his  priest,  and  his  prophet.  This  de- 
claration appears  to  have  been  either  misunder- 
stood or  perverted  by  certain  antinomian  teach- 
ers. St.  James,  therefore,  asserts,  that  the  faith, 
which  justifies  a  man,  is  not  a  mere  speculative 
belief,  such  as  the  devils  have :  and,  using  the 
word  Faith  in  the  sense  of  those  whom  he  is 
opposing  (that  is  to  say,  in  the  sense  of  bare 
historical  beUef,  a  sense  in  which  St.  Paul  never' 
meant  it  to  be  understood),  he  thence  teaches, 
that  a  man  is  not  justified  by  Faith  ojily. 

But  he  goes  yet  further :  he  also  declares, 
that  a  man  is  justified  by  works.  He  must  there- 
fore use  the  word  Justification  likewise  in  a  dif- 
ferent sense  from  his  brother  Apostle.  Hence, 
as  St.  Paul  undoubtedly  uses  it  in  the  abstract ; 
so  St.  James  must  be  understood  to  use  it  in  the 


The  Doctrine  of  Justification,  67 

concrete,  as  involving  the  idea  of  its  consequent 
Sanctification.  Thus,  though  the  righteousness 
of  Abstract  Justification  be  imputative  and  not 
personal ;  yet  the  righteousness  of  sanctifica- 
tion, which  is  the  consequent  and  concrete  of 
justification,  is  no  doubt  personally  inherent  and 
not  imputative. 

Using  the  word  then  in  different  senses,  or 
rather  in  a  less  and  a  more  extended  sense,  the 
two  Apostles  teach  with  equal  truth ;  the  one, 
that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith  only ;  the  other, 
that  a  man  is  justified  by  works,  and  not  by 
faith  (that  is,  speculative  belief)  alone.  St.  Paul 
speaks  of  the  imputed  righteousness  of  proper 
justification  ;  St.  James,  of  the  inherent  righ- 
teousness of  that  sanctification  which  folio weth 
after  proper  justification.  Before  God  a  man  is 
justified  by  the  former  righteousness  only :  hence 
St.  Paul  teaches.  To  him  that  worketh  not,  but  be- 
lieveth,  faith  is  counted  for  righteousness,^  With 
respect  to  his  own  personal  condition,  he  is  jus- 
tified by  the  latter  righteousness,  and  not  by  the 
vain  belief  of  a  devil :  hence  St.  John  teaches, 
He  that  doeth  righteousness  is  righteous. -^ 

"Of  the  one,"  says  the  judicious  Hooker,  "St. 
Paul  doth  prove  by  Abraham's  example,  that  we 
have  it  of  faith  without  works :  of  the  other,  St. 

*  Rom.  iv.  3.  f  1  John  iii,  7. 


(58  The  Doctrine  of  Justification, 

James,  by  Abraham's  example,  that  by  works 
we  have  it,  and  not  only  by  faith.  St.  Paul  doth 
plainly  sever  these  two  parts  of  Christian  righ- 
teousness one  from  the  other."  Being  freed 
from  sin  and  made  sei'vants  to  God,  ye  have  your 
fruit  in  holiness^  and  the  end  everlasting  life.^  Ye 
are  made  free  from  sin,  and  made  sei^ants  unto 
God:  this  is  the  righteousness  of  justification. 
Ye  have  your  fruit  in  holiness  :  this  is  the  righ- 
teousness of  sanctification — By  the  one  we  are 
interested  in  the  right  of  inheriting :  by  the  other 
we  are  brought  to  the  actual  possession  of  eter- 
nal bliss ;  and  so  the  end  of  both  is  everlasting 
life.t 

IV.  The  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  only 
is  pronounced  by  the  Church  of  England  to  be  a 
most  wholesome  doctrine  and  very  full  of  com- 
fort.J  Such,  I  am  persuaded,  it  is,  when  receiv- 
ed with  purity  and  godly  simplicity,  when  guard- 
ed (as  the  Apostle  guards  it)  from  the  mischiev- 
ous perversions  of  Antinomianism. 

1.  It  is  a  wholesome  doctrine,  as  tending  to 
curb  all  pride  in  man,  and  as  inculcating  the 
deepest  humility  ;  as  exalting  the  mercy  of  God, 
and  as  displaying  in  the  most  striking  point  of 
view  the  importance  of  the  vicarious  sufferings 
of  Christ ;  as  filling  our  hearts  with  gratitude  for 

*  Rom.  vi.  22.         t  Discourse  of  Justification.  §  6. 
\  Art.  xi. 


The  Doctrine  of  Justification.  69 

undeserved  grace ;  and  as  teaching  us  to  pro- 
strate ourselves  in  the  lowest  self-abasement  at 
the  foot  of  the  cross,  conscious  that  we  have 
deeply  sinned  and  have  come  far  short  of  the 
glory  of  God. 

The  less  we  attribute  to  ourselves,  the  more 
disposed  shall  we  be  to  be  thankful  to  our  Re- 
deemer :  for,  whatever  portion  of  merit  we  ar- 
rogate to  ourselves,  just  so  much  do  we  depre- 
ciate the  value  of  Christ's  sacrifice.  The  man, 
who  imagines  that  he  is  in  part  to  be  justified  by 
his  works,  and  that  the  merits  of  his  Redeemer 
serve  only  to  eke  out  his  deficiencies,  must  ever 
be  disposed  to  glorying,  must  ever  entertain  a 
far  lower  idea  of  the  value  of  his  Saviour's  atone- 
ment, than  he,  who  feels  himself  to  be  a  misera- 
ble lost  sinner ;  who  presumes  not  to  rest  upon 
his  defective  services ;  who  casts  himself  wholly 
on  the  mercy  of  God  through  Christ ;  whose  only 
plea  is  the  righteousness  of  his  Redeemer;  whose 
only  prayer  is,  that  God  would  be  merciful  to 
him  a  sinner,  and  grant  him  grace  henceforth  to 
walk  in  the  patlis  of  sanctification.  Hence  St. 
Paul  represents  it  as  one  great  characteristic  of 
the  doctrine,  that  it  excludes  all  boasting.  After 
stating,  that  all  the  world  is  become  guilty  before 
God,  and  therefore  that  by  the  deeds  of  the  law 
no  flesh  shall  be  justified  in  his  sight,  he  asks, 
Where  is  boasting,  then  ?    It  is  excluded.    By 


70  The  Doctrine  of  Justification, 

what  law  ?  of  works  ?  Kay :  hut  by  the  law  of 
faith.^  Hence  also  he  argues  incontrovertibly, 
that,  if  Abraham  were  justified  by  xvorks^  he  would 
have  whereof  to  glory. ^ 

Surely  then  such  a  view  of  the  doctrine,  as 
not  only  allows  to  each  of  us  the  capability  of 
having  a  sufficiency  of  merit  for  his  own  justifi- 
cation, but  likewise  admits  the  existence  of  su- 
pererogatory merit  in  saints  and  martyrs  :  sure- 
ly such  a  view  of  the  doctrine,  which  tends  to 
puff  up  those  who  hold  it  with  Pharisaical  pride 
and  self-sufficiency,  can  never  be  that  humbling 
Scriptural  view  of  it,  which  excludes  all  boast- 
ing. 

2.  The  Church  of  England  further  pronoun- 
ces Justification  by  faith  only  to  be  a  doctrine 
tery  full  of  comfort. 

Our  adversaries  have  been  wont  to  object  to 
this,  that  "  comfortable  no  doubt  is  the  doctrine 
which  requires  faith  only  in  order  to  justifica- 
tion, inasmuch  as  it  teaches  a  road  to  heaven 
which  must  ever  be  agreeable  to  the  wicked." 

They  seem  not,  however,  to  understand  the 
ground  on  which  our  Church  makes  this  declar- 
ation. 

Suppose  we  had  been  taught  in  Scripture,  that 
we  were  to  be  saved  jjartly  by  our  works  and 

*  Rom.  iii.  19,  20,  27.  \  Rom.  iv.  2. 


The  Doctrine  of  Justification,  71 

partly  by  faith :  in  that  case,  the  line  must  have 
been  drawn  somewhere^  between  a  sufficiency  of 
works  and  a  non-sufficiency  of  them.  Under 
these  circumstances,  how  could  any  of  us  have 
had  a  well-grounded  hope,  that  we  came  up  to 
the  standard  required  of  us,  when  we  knew  not, 
and  never  could  know,  what  that  standard  was  ? 
How  tormenting  must  have  been  our  anxiety ! 
how  slavish  our  obedience  !  Whatever  service 
we  performed  must  have  been  in  the  very  spirit 
of  bondage  ;  not  a  particle  of  generous,  grate- 
ful, filial  love  could  have  entered  into  it.  We 
should  have  been  wretched  slaves,  the  spiritual 
children  of  Hagar,*  urged  to  our  tasks  with 
whips  of  scorpions,  loathing  the  intolerable 
drudgery,  hating  God  in  our  hearts  as  a  tyran- 
nical, unrelenting  taskmaster.  Such  in  fact  is 
the  very  spirit  of  Popery  and  of  those  who  in- 
cline to  the  Popish  doctrine  of  merit.  The 
whole  round  of  penances,  mortifications,  and 
pilgrimages;  the  trumpery  of  monastic  devo- 
tion, the  austerity  of  eremitical  seclusion ;  the 
blood-stained  scourge  of  the  ascetic  in  this  world, 
the  imagined  expiatory  flames  of  purgatory  in 
the  next  :  are  all  but  component  parts  of  that 
gloomy,  cheerless  servitude,  which  is  the  genu- 
ine offspring  of  Justification  by  works, 

*  Galat.  iv.  22— -31. 


72  The  Doctrine  of  Justification, 

But  that  doctrine,  which  our  Church  declares 
to  be  full  of  comfort,  is  comfortable,  not  as  en- 
couraging licentiousness,  not  as  holding  out  a 
reward  to  hardened  profligacy  ;  but  as  setting 
our  minds  at  rest  on  the  certainty  of  our  accep- 
tance with  God,  as  instrumentally  infusing  into 
our  hearts  that  Spirit  of  the  Son,  whereby  we 
cry  Abba,  Father*    Blessed  be  God,  we  know 
whom  we  have  believed,  and  are  persuaded  that  he 
is  able  to  keep  that  which  we  have  committed  un- 
to him  against  that  day.\     Conscious  of  our  de- 
merits, aware  that  our  very  best  deeds  are  so 
mingled  with  sin  and  imperfection  that  we  have 
need  to  abhor  them  in  the  presence  of  an  all- 
seeing  Judge,  we  cast  away  all  hope,  all  confi- 
dence, in  ourselves  ;  we  presume  not  to  demand 
justification  as  our  right;  we  throw  ourselves 
wholly  on  the  mercy  of  God  through  Christ ;  in 
him  ajone  we  put  our  trust;  to  him  alone  we 
flee  for  shelter  and  security.     Nor  will  he,  in 
any  wise,  cast  out  those  who  thus  come  unto 
him.     Graciously  will   his   arms  be   stretched 
forth  unto  them  :  freely  will  he  justify  them 
from  all  their  sins. 

But  what  then  ?  Will  his  justified  ones  harden 
themselves  in  iniquity  ?  Will  they,  who  have 
thus  come  unto  Christ,  remain  bondmen  of  Sa- 

*  Galat.  iv.  6.  +2  Tim.  i.  12. 


The  Doctrine  of  Justification.  73 

tan  ?  Is  it  possible  for  those;  over  whose  hearts 
the  spirit  of  fihal  adoption  hath  been  shed,  yet 
to  remain  in  the  gall  of  bitterness  ?  Is  it  possi- 
ble for  those,  who,  bewailing  their  sins,  and  sen- 
sible of  their  utter  inability,  have  apphed  unto 
the  Saviour  for  wisdom,  righteousness,  and  sanc- 
tification :  is  it  possible  for  these  men  delibe- 
rately, presumptuously,  habitually,  to  tear  open 
afresh  the  wounds  of  their  gracious  Redeemer, 
to  tread  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  to  count  the 
blood  of  the  covenant  an  unholy  thing,  to  do 
despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  grace  ?  None,  who 
have  thus  drawn  near  unto  Christ,  are  capable  of 
such  base  ingratitude.  The  two  states  of  mind 
are  utterly  incompatible.  The  language  of  the 
justitied  ever  is,  and  ever  must  be,  Shall  we  sin, 
because  we  are  not  imder  the  law,  hut  under  grace? 
God  forbid.  Being  made  free  from  sin,  we  are 
become  the  servants  of  righteousness.  Our  old 
man  is  crucified  with  Christ,  that  the  body  of  sin 
rnight  be  destroyed,  that  henceforth  we  shoidd  not 
serve  sin*  They  are  freed  from  the  law,  as  a 
yoke  of  bondage,  as  a  code  of  hard  conditions  by 
the  performance  of  which  their  justification  is  to 
be  purchased :  but,  as  a  rule  of  holy  living,  they 
are  still  subject,  it  is  their  privilege  Xo  be  subject, 
to  the  law.     Knowing  that  the  ground  of  theiv 

*Roin.  vi.  15,    18,  6. 

Faher,       1 1 


74  The  Doctrine  of  Justification, 

justification  is  wholly  distinct  from  any  thing, 
which  they  either  have  or  can  do  ;  they  labour 
to  serve  God  under  a  sweet  sense  of  security  : 
they  strive  to  promote  his  glory  with  the  affec- 
tionate feelings  of  children  who  think  they  can 
never  do  enough  to  evince  their  gratitude  to  a 
kind  and  indulgent  father.  They  work,  as  our 
old  reformers  were  wont  to  express  it,  not  for 
salvation,  hut  from  salvation ;  not  that  they  7/^«^/ 
he  justified,  but  because  they  «r^  justified. 

Thus,  rejoicing  in  hope,  full  of  comfort, 
abounding  in  good  works,  anticipating  the  glo- 
ries of  the  inheritance  reserved  for  them;  thus 
do  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord  advance  on  their 
way  heavenward.  Renouncing  all  trust  in  their 
own  righteousness,  they  have  washed  their  ivbes, 
and  made  them  white  in  the  Mood  of  the  Lamb*. 
Soon,  therefore,  in  the  full  employment  of  the 
beatific  vision  of  God,  shall  they  cast,  with  the 
apocalyptic  elders,  their  crowns  before  the 
throne,  and  take  up  the  triumphant  song,  Wm^- 
thy  is  the  Lamb  thai  was  slain  to  receive  power, 
and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  stretigth,  and  honour, 
and  glory,  and  blessing ;  therefore  blessing,  and 
honour,  and  glory,  and  ponver,  be  unto  him  that 
sitteth  upon  the  throne^  and  unto  the  Lamb  for  ever 
and  ever.-f 

*  Rev.  vii.   14.  f  Rev.   v.   12,  13, 


SERMON  IV. 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  SANCTIFICATION, 


HEB.    XII.    14. 

(f. 

Follow  holiness^  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the 

Lord. 

MAN  was  created  upright:  but  by  his  fall 
from  his  original  integrity,  he  became  a  trans- 
gressor of  the  divine  law,  and  was  thence  made 
obnoxious  to  such  penalty  as  the  Divine  Justice 
might  please  to  require  of  him.  A  conscious- 
ness of  this  deplorable  state  naturally  and  ne- 
cessarily produced  an  alienation  of  his  heart  and 
affections  from  God :  for,  however  we  may  ac- 
knowledge it  to  be  equitable  that  the  unrighteous 
should  be  punished,  it  is  utterly  impossible,  when 
we  ourselves  are  the  subjects  of  such  punishment, 
that  we  should  feel  any  love  for  the  agent  who 
inflicts  it. 

The  efi'ects,  therefore,  of  the  fall  were  two- 
fold :  a   liability  to  God^s  justice  on  account  of 


76  The  Doctrine  of  Sanctification, 

transgression^  and  an  alienation  of  the  heart  from 
him  rvhen  viewed  as  the  inflicter  of  this  justice. 

Now,  as  God  is  essential  holiness,  as  well  as 
essential  justice,  it  follows  inevitably,  that  the 
being  who  ceases  to  love  him,  does  by  that  very 
act  cease  also  to  be  holy.  By  his  enmity  to  God, 
he  is  brought  into  a  state  of  contrariety  to  holi- 
ness. But  contrariety  to  holiness  implies  posi- 
tive depravation.  Man,  therefore,  by  transgress- 
ing the  divine  law,  became  liable  to  punishment ; 
becoming  liable  to  punishment,  he  thence  con- 
tracted a  deep  enmity  against  him  from  whom 
he  expected  the  infliction  of  it :  and,  having  con- 
tracted this  deep  enmity  against  a  perfectly  pure 
and  holy  Being,  he,  in  consequence  of  it,  became 
hostile  to  the  very  principle  of  hohness,  and  was 
thus  tainted  to  the  core  with  moral  and  spiritual 
corruption. 

Such  I  apprehend  to  have  been  the  progress 
through  which  man  deflected  from  righteousness 
to   unrighteousness,    and  from  purity   to   im- 
purity. 

But  here,  unhappily,  the  matter  did  not  stop. 
The  first  commandment  to  man  was,  Be  fruitful^ 
and  multiply^  and  replenish  the  earth^.  Now  to 
our  primeval  parents  no  offspring  was  born  pre- 
vious to  their  fall :  a  question  therefore  might 

*  Gen.  i,  28. 


The  Doctrine  of  Sanctijication,  77 

well  arise  as  to  the  moral  condition  of  children, 
who  should  be  produced  from  those  who  had 
themselves  experienced  moral  corruption ;  whe- 
ther they  would  come  into  the  world  free  from 
all  taint,  or  whether  they  would  inherit  those 
mental  qualities  which  already  characterised 
their  depraved  father  and  mother. 

Were   we  to  judge  only  from  analogy,  we 
should,  even   then,   I  conceive,  find  ourselves 
compelled  to  determine  in  favour  of  the  latter 
supposition.     I  dwell  not  upon  the  mere  out- 
ward form  of  the  lionet  resembling  that  of  the 
lion,  or  upon  the  mere  outward  form  of  the  lamb 
reflecting  faithfully  tliat  of  the  sheep  :  for  extei^- 
not  appearance  is  not  the  point  in  question.  What 
we  have  here  to  consider  is  the  internal  temper 
and  disposition  of  the  brute  creation :  whether 
nature  acts,  or  does  not  act,  with  the  same  in- 
variable uniformity  in  producing  the  mental,  as 
in  producing  the  bodily,  characteristics  of  each 
animal.     Does  the  young  hon  then  resemble  its 
sire  in  inward  disposition,  as  well  as  in  outward 
form :  and  does  the  lamb  transcribe  the  temper 
of  its  dam,  no  less  than  copy  its  external  sym- 
metry ?   It  is  almost  superfluous  to  answer,  that, 
in  this  particular,  just  as  much  as  in  that  which 
respects  bodily  organization,  the  rule  of  nature 
is  of  universal  application.     Each  animal  inhe- 
rits alike  the  disposition  and  the  form  of  its  pa- 


78  The  Boctrine  of  Sanctijication, 

rents.  The  lamb  never  betrays  the  propensities 
of  the  lion ;  nor  the  lion,  the  propensities  of  the 
lamb.  Never  do  the  dispositions  of  the  eagle 
characterise  the  dove;  never  do  the  dispositions 
of  the  dove  mark  the  eagle.  Each  class  of  ani- 
mals, from  generation  to  generation,  is  invariably 
distinguished  by  the  same  leading  temper :  the 
ferocious  produce  the  ferocious  ;  the  gentle,  the 
gentle ;  the  docile,  the  docile  ;  the  treacherous, 
the  treacherous.  So  far  as  v^e  can  observe,  in 
such  as  are  domesticated,  there  will  indeed  be 
minorshadesof  character  in  animals  of  the  same 
class,  as  there  are  minor  shades  of  character 
among  individual  men  :  but  the  great  outline  of 
disposition,  by  which  one  class  is  distinguished 
from  another  class,  remains  the  same  from  age 
to  age,  and  from  generation  to  generation. 

The  whole  analogy  then  of  the  brute  creation, 
whether  we  regard  birds  and  beasts,  or  fishes 
and  reptiles,  would  lead  us  to  conclude,  that 
man  inherits  from  man  no  less  the  features  of 
mind  than  the  outlines  and  constitution  of  body. 
Adam  and  Eve,  therefore  having  both  experien- 
ced moral  depravation  before  the  birth  of  their 
children,  the  whole  analogy  of  nature  would 
teach,  that  their  offspring  would  come  into  the 
world  bearing  their  express  image  both  mental 
and  corporeal.  In  other  words,  the  whole  ana- 
logy of  nature  would  require  us  to  expect  that 


The  Doctrine  of  Sanctijication.  79 

state  of  mind  in  the  human  species,  which  in  the- 
ology is  usually  designated  by  the  nanie  of  oru 
ginal  sin. 

Following  the  same  analogy,  we  should  be 
necessarily  led  to  contradict  the  Pelagian  theory, 
that  the  sinfulness  of  man  is  not  inherent  in  his 
constitution,  but  that  it  springs  altogether  from 
mere  imitation.  Among  animals,  a  tendency  to 
savageness  or  mildness,  or  any  other  character- 
istic disposition  does  not  arise  from  copying  the 
manners  of  other  animals,  but  is  plainly  innate 
in  each  subject.  Were  a  lion's  cub  brought  up 
among  sheep,  we  should  not  find  that  he  would 
adopt  the  manners  of  a  lamb :  nor,  if  it  were  pos- 
sible that  a  lamb  could  be  educated  among  lions, 
would  it  thence  be  led  to  imitate  the  ferocity  and 
the  courage  of  its  associates.  In  both  cases,  the 
temper  severally  inherited  from  the  parents 
would  still  be  conspicuous ;  and  would  thus  prove 
itself  to  be  inherent^  not  the  result  of  imitation. 
In  a  similar  manner,  if  we  take  analogy  for  our 
guide,  we  shall  be  led  to  conclude,  that  man's 
universal  tendency  to  sin  does  not  originate  from 
his  successively /o/Zowi/zg"  ^/?e  had  example  of  hh 
parents  or  companions  ;  but  that  it  is  innate  in 
his  very  constitutim^  and  that  it  derives  itself  from 
the  mental  depravation  of  his  progenitors. 

We  are  not,  however,  left  to  deduce  this  im- 
portant tenet  from  mere  analogy.     Scripture  is 


80  The  Doctrine  of  Sanctification, 

express  on  the  subject.  The  imagination  of  man'*  s 
heart,  we  are  told,  is  evil  from  his  youth*.  What 
is  man,  that  he  should  he  clean  ;  and  he  which  is 
horn  of  a  xvoman,  that  he  should  he  righteous  ?\ 
Behold,  says  David,  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity ;  and 
in  sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me.X  The  same 
awful  truth  is  no  less  necessarily  implied,  than  it 
is  positively  declared.  By  one  man,  argues  the 
Apostle,  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  hy 
sin :  and  so  death  passed  upon  all  men,  for  that 
all  have  sinned.^  For  the  wages  of  sin  is  death.\\ 
From  these  passages  we  learn,  that  the  uni- 
versal cause  of  death  is  sin.  Every  one  that 
dies,  is,  by  the  very  circumstance  of  his  death, 
proved  to  have  been  a  sinner ;  because  death, 
we  are  assured,  is  the  penalty  which  sin  is 
doomed  to  pay.  But  infants  die  :  therefore 
they  are  proved  by  their  death  to  be  sinners. 
Actual  sin,  however,  they  have  no  opportunity 
of  committing :  and  yet  they  are  sinners  :  be- 
cause they  pay  the  penalty  of  death,  no  less  than 
adults  who  have  committed  actual  sin.  There- 
fore, as  they  have  not  committed  actual  sin,  and 
yet  are  sinners  ;  they  can  only  be  sinners  in  con- 
sequence of  some  radical  taint  of  their  nature 
derived  by  birth  from  their  parents. 

*  Gen.  vlii.  21.  f  Job  xv.  14.  \  Psalm  li.  5. 

§  Rom.  V.  12.  II  Rom.  vi.  23. 


The  Doctrine  of  Sanctijication.  81 

It  is  worthy  of  observation,  that  the  inspired 
writers  occasionally  inculcate  the  same  doctrine 
by  a  train  of  analogical  reasoning  similar  to  that 
which  I  have  already  employed. 

Can  the  Ethiopian  change  his  skin  ;  or  the 
leopard  his  spots  ?  Then  may  ye  also  do  good, 
that  are  accustomed  to  do  eviL* 

But  it  is  happened  unto  them  according  to  the 
true  proverb^  The  dog  is  turned  to  his  own  vomit 
again  ;  and  the  sow  that  ivas  ivashed,  to  her 
wallowing  in  the  mire.\ 

Man's  sinfulness  is  compared,  in  the  first  of 
these  passages,  to  the  sooty  hue  of  a  negro  and 
to  the  spots  of  a  leopard  :  while,  in  the  second, 
his  inveterate  propensity  to  evil,  notwithstanding 
any  mere  temporary  outward  reformation,  is  il- 
lustrated by  certain  well  known  actions  of  a  dog 
and  a  sow.  But,  in  both  cases,  the  similitude  is 
palpably  defective,  and  therefore  impropei^  on 
the  Pelagian  scheme.  The  Ethiopian  is  black, 
and  the  leopard  is  spotted,  not  by  the  imitatio7i 
of  black  men  or  of  spotted  animals,  huXfrom  the 
very  time  of  the  natural  birth :  therefore  the 
sinfulness,  which  is  compared  to  them,  cannot 
be  simply  imitative,  but  must  be  inherent.  And, 
in  a  similar  manner,  the  dog  returns  to  his 
vomit,  and  the  sow  to  her  wallowing  in  the 

*  Jerem,  xiii.  23.  f  2  Pet.  ii.  22. 

Faher.  is 


8^  The  Doctrine  of  Sanctificatioti, 

mire,  not  because  they  have  been  led  to  imitate 
other  dogs  and  other  swine  in  such  unclean 
practices,  but  because  actions  of  this  description 
are  natural  to  them :  therefore  the  perpetual 
recurrence  to  evil  deeds  on  the  part  of  the  un- 
regenerate,  after  various  short-lived  attempts  at 
reformation,  is  not  to  be  accounted  for  on  the 
principle  of  their  imitating  other  unregenerate 
men,  but  is  to  be  ascribed  to  an  original  and  in- 
nate propensity  to  sin. 

This  then  being  the  proper  constitution  of 
man's  nature  since  the  fall,  any  religion,  which 
descends  from  heaven,  must  inevitably  assume 
it  as  a  leading  fact,  and  must  specially  be  adapt- 
ed to  remedy  it ;  for  a  religion,  not  thus  charac- 
terised, could  not  be  true^  and  must  be  useless. 
Now  man  by  the  fall  suffered  in  two  distinct 
modes:  by  his  deflection  from  righteousness,  he 
lost  all  title  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  the 
score  of  God's  justice ;  and,  by  his  contraction 
of  impurity,  he  lost  every  qualification  for  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  on  the  score  of  God's  na- 
ture. Man  therefore,  in  order  to  his  salvation, 
required  a  rehgion,  which  should  remedy  both 
these  defects :  a  religion,  which,  by  some  provi- 
sion or  other,  should  restore  to  him  his  lost  title 
to  heaven ;  and  which,  at  the  same  time,  should 
be  instrumental  in  so  bringing  back  his  depraved 
nature  to  its  original  purity,  as  to  give  him  his 


The  Doctrine  of  Sa7ictiJicatio?i.  83 

lost  qualification  for  the  enjoyment  of  heaven. 
For,  unless  the  first  defect  were  remedied,  he 
would  be  shut  out  by  God's  immutable  justice  : 
and,  unless  the  second  were  equally  remedied, 
he  would  still  be  excluded  by  God's  immutable 
purity.  In  the  language  of  Holy  Writ,  this  re- 
ligion from  heaven  must  at  once  devise  a  way, 
by  which  God  might  both  be  just  and  thejustifier 
of  sinners^  and  by  which  those  sinners  might  he 
made  meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light. 

Now  to  such  a  description  Christianity  will 
be  found  exactly  to  answer.  By  his  one  sacri- 
fice of  himself  once  offered,  Christ  has  made  a 
perfect  atonement  and  satisfaction  for  the  sins 
of  the  whole  world ;  so  that,  through  his  all- 
prevailing  meritoriousness,  our  lost  claim  and 
title  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  as  fully  re- 
stored to  us  as  if  it  had  never  been  forfeited  : 
this  is  our  Justification.  And  again,  by  his  Holy 
Spirit  changing  and  renewing  our  hearts,  making 
us  altogether  different  creatures  from  what  we 
were  by  nature,  and  gradually  maturing  us  in 
every  disposition  pleasing  to  God,  he  renders  us 
fit  subjects  for  spiritual  happiness  ;  so  that  thus 
our  qualification  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
restored  to  us,  no  les^  than  our  right  and  title 
to  it :  this  is  our  Sanctification, 

These  two   then,    our  Justification  and  our 
Sanctification,  comprehend  the   very  sum  and 


84  'Fhe  Doctrine  of  Sandijication. 

substance  of  Christianity.  They  are  the  two 
hinges,  upon  which  the  whole  Gospel  turns: 
and,  as  in  point  of  theory  they  both  presuppose 
the  fact  of  man's  declension  from  righteousness 
and  purity ;  so,  in  point  of  practice  and  applica- 
tion, though  they  essentially  differ  from  each 
other  in  nature,  they  never  must  and  never  can 
be  separated.  For,  if  we  might  suppose  it  pos- 
sible that  Sanctilication  could  take  place  in  fal- 
len beings  without  a  concomitant  Justification, 
this  Sanctification,  though  it  might  qualify  them 
for  heaven,  could  plainly  give  them  no  title  to  it 
consistently  with  God's  justice  ;  because  it  could 
in  no  respect  forensically  annihilate  their  pre- 
vious violations  of  the  law :  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  if  the  Justification  of  fallen  beings  had 
been  accomplished  without  their  concomitant 
Sanctification.  this  Justification,  though  it  might 
give  them  a  title  to  heaven,  would  plainly  be  in- 
capable of  qualifying  them  for  it ;  because  a  pur- 
chased right  to  any  situation  or  condition  does 
not  in  itself  make  a  man  fit  to  occupy  it. 

Thus  it  appears,  that  Justification,  if  solitary, 
cannot  open  to  us  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  be- 
cause, without  Sanctification,  we  should  labour 
under  a  natural  unfitness  for  the  celestial  state : 
and  inversely,  that  Sanctification,  if  solitary,  can 
just  as  fittle  open  to  us  the  kingdom  of  heaven ; 
because,  without  Justification,  we  should  labour 


The  Doctrine  of  Sanctijlcation,  85 

under  a  manifest  defectiveness  of  title.  In  short, 
without  Justification,  we  should  be  excluded  by 
the  immutability  of  God's  righteousness:  with- 
out Sanctification,  we  should  be  excluded  by  the 
immutability  of  God's  hoMness. 

We  are  at  present  concerned  with  the  doctrine 
of  Sanctification  viewed  as  a  necessary  qualifi- 
cation for  the  heavenly  inheritance.  The  Apos- 
tle charges  us  to  follow  holiness ;  we  must  there- 
fore learn  what  that  holiness  is  :  and  he  further 
intimates,  that  without  it  no  man  shall  see  the 
Lord ;  it  will  be  useful  therefore  to  establish  the 
truth  of  this  declaration  on  the  principles  of  right 
reason,  by  shewing,  that  without  holiness  it  is 
impossible  in  the  very  nature  of  things  to  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

1.  Since  holiness  is  the  state,  into  which  we 
must  be  brought  with  a  view  to  our  attaining  the 
celestial  inheritance  ;  and  since  that  inheritance 
was  originally  forfeited  by  transgression,  which 
produced  a  loss  of  lioliness ;  it  is  evident  that 
the  state  into  which  we  have  been  brought  by 
transgression,  is  the  reverse  of  a  state  of  holi- 
ness ;  and  consequently,  that  the  state  of  holi- 
ness, into  which  we  must  be  brought  in  order  to 
salvation,  is  the  very  state  from  which  our  first 
parents  deflected.  The  process,  therefore,  of 
our  sanctification,  is  precisely  an  inversion  of  the 
process  of  our  fall :  the  condition  of  that  soul, 


86  The 'Doctrine  of  Sanctijicatioiu 

that  was  lost,  is  the  identical  condition  that  must 
be  recovered  ;  the  image  of  God,  that  was  obli- 
terated, is  the  identical  image  that  must  be  re- 
stored. Hence,  would  we  learn  the  nature  of 
Christian  holiness,  we  must  inquire  into  the 
nature  of  that  spiritual  condition  in  which  Adam 
Was  first  created. 

1.  We  are  briefly  but  significantly  told  by 
Moses,  that  God  made  man  in  his  own  image.* 

Now,  as  God  is  a  spirit  unshackled  by  any  ma- 
terial form,  the  image  here  spoken  of  cannot  be 
an  outward  bodily  appearance.  The  similitude 
therefore  of  the  first  man  to  God  did  not  consist 
in  his  corporeal  resemblance  to  his  Maker.  But, 
if  it  did  not  consist  in  any  corporeal  resemblance, 
it  could  only  have  consisted  in  a  mental  resem- 
blance. Consequently,  man  is  said  to  have  been 
created  in  the  image  of  God,  because  his  spirit, 
in  its  nature  and  disposition  resembled  the  Spirit 
of  God.  The  Spirit  of  God,  however,  is  a  Spirit 
altogether  pure  and  holy,  free  from  the  least 
taint  of  corruption,  and  utterly  abhorring  all  ini- 
quity. The  spirit,  therefore,  of  man,  at  his  first 
creation,  must  have  been  distinguished  by  the 
very  same  characteristics  in  kind,  whatever  ne- 
cessary difference  there  may  have  been  in  a  de- 
gree between  a  finite  creature  and  an  infinite 
Creator. 

*  Gen.  i.  27. 


The  Doctrine  of  Sarictijication,  87 

Each  then  being  perfectly  similar  in  disposi- 
tion, there  would  of  course  be  a  perfect  simila- 
rity in  point  of  taste.  Whatever  the  Spirit  of  God 
loved  the  corresponding  spirit  of  man  would  also 
love :  whatever  the  Spirit  of  God  abhorred,  the 
corresponding  spirit  of  man  would  also  abhor : 
whatever  the  Spirit  of  God  willed,  the  corres- 
ponding spirit  of  man  would  also  will.  Such 
being  the  case,  the  affections  and  the  will  of  man 
would  be  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  affections 
and  the  will  of  God. 

This  similarity  of  propension  necessarily  im- 
plies also  a  similarity  in  the  intellectual  powers. 
God  does  not  will,  and  love,  and  abhor,  either 
through  blind  caprice,  or  by  any  fatal  necessity 
of  his  constitution  ;  but  because  his  will  and  af- 
fections are  invariably  directed  by  his  boundless 
intellect,  which  perceives  at  a  glance  the  eter- 
nal fitness  or  unfitness  of  things  as  viewed  in  re- 
ference to  his  own  immutable  holiness :  God 
loves  or  abhors,  because  his  intellect  first  ap- 
proves or  disapproves.  But  man  was  created 
after  the  spiritual  image  of  God,  without  any  li- 
mitation except  the  necessary  one  of  degree. 
The  intellect  therefore,  of  man,  was  similar  in 
kind  to  the  intellect  of  God.  It  did  not  indeed 
embrace  the  universe,  because  omniscience  is 
a  special  attribute  of  the  Supreme  Being  alone  : 
but,  so  far  as  it  was  capable  of  being  exerted,  it 


88  The  Doctrine  of  Sanctification. 

was  ever  exerted  in  perfect  correspondence  with 
the  divine  intellect.  Man  therefore,  previous 
to  the  fall,  willed  the  things  that  God  willed, 
loved  the  things  that  God  loved,  and  abhorred 
the  things  that  God  abhorred ;  not  from  caprice 
or  any  fatal  necessity,  but  because  his  clear  and 
unclouded  intellect  viewed  the  things  which 
came  under  its  cognizance  precisely  in  the  same 
light  that  the  divine  intellect  itself  viewed  them  : 
like  God,  he  loved  or  abhorred,  because  his  in- 
tellect first  approved  or  disapproved ;  and,  as 
his  intellect  in  kind  precisely  corresponded  with 
the  intellect  of  God,  it  thence  necessarily  ap- 
proved or  disapproved  whatever  the  divine  in- 
tellect approved  or  disapproved. 

Thus  perfectly,  in  every  spiritual  particular, 
was  man  created  after  the  image  of  God.  In 
one  word,  as  it  is  written,  God  made  man  up- 
right.* 

2.  The  inspired  penman  however  immedi- 
ately adds,  But  they  have  sought  out  many  in- 
ventions. 

These  perverse  excogitations  of  the  heart, 
which  have  characterised  man  ever  since  the 
fall,  and  the  indulgence  of  which  in  fact  consti- 
tuted the  fall,  however  variously  they  may  be 
ramified  according  to  the  various  situations  in 

Eccles.  vii.  29. 


The  Doctrine  of  Sanctification,  89 

which  a  corrupt  being  may  be  placed,  may  all 
be  resolved  into  the  workings  of  a  darkened  in- 
tellect, a  perverted  will,  and  a  distorted  affec- 
tion. 

As  the  two  last  were  in  complete  unison  with 
the  divine  Mind  anterior  to  the  fall,  because  the 
first  wholly  corresponded  in  its  view  of  things 
and  their  relations  with  the  intellect  of  God  ;  so 
the  tempter  began  his  operations  with  seeking 
to  cloud  the  powers  of  man's  understanding. 
He  presented  to  the  intellect  of  Adam  and  Eve 
a  different  view  of  the  propriety  of  God's  com- 
mand from  that  in  which  God  himself  beheld  it. 
The  human  understanding  now  for  the  first  time 
ceased  to  harmonize  with  the  divine  understand- 
ing. A  different  intellectual  view  of  things  ne- 
cessarily produced  a  difference  of  will  and  affec- 
tion :  for  we  will,  and  love,  and  hate,  according  as 
objects  are  exhibited  by  the  intellect.  Hence 
the  will  of  man  ran  counter  to  the  will  of  God, 
and  the  affections  of  man  ceased  to  coincide 
with  the  affections  of  God. 

The  consequence  was,  that  the  human  mind, 
by  this  aberration  from  the  divine  Mind,  became 
wholly  darkened,  and  distorted,  and  polluted, 
in  its  three  leading  faculties  of  the  intellect,  the 
will,  and  the  affection :  for,  as  God  is  pure  intel- 
lectual light,  an  aberration  from  that  light  nmst 
be  intellectual  darkness ;  as  God  is  perfectly 

Faber,     13 


90  llie  Doctrine  of  Sandification. 

just  and  direct  in  the  exercise  of  liis  will,  an 
aberration  from  that  will  must  be  equivalent  to 
distorted  volition ;  and,  as  God  is  perfectly  holy 
in  the  working  of  his  affection,  an  aberration 
from  that  affection  necessarily  implies  pollution 
and  unholiness. 

Such  then  is  the  condition  of  the  natural  man 
in  consequence  of  the  fall :  his  foolish  heart  is 
darkened,  so  that  he  no  longer  clearly  appre- 
hends the  spiritual  relations  of  things  ;  his  per- 
verse will  is  fixed  in  resolute  contrariety  to  the 
will  of  God ;  and  his  debased  afl^ection  loves 
what  God  hates,  and  hates  what  God  loves. 

3.  A  being  so  constituted  is  clearly  unfit  for 
any  enjoyment  of  the  divine  presence.  He 
itiust  tread  all  his  steps  retrogressively  in  order 
to  be  qualified  for  it. 

As  the  operation  of  the  will  and  the  affections 
ultimately  depends  upon  the  intellect,  and  as 
their  depraved  operation  originated  from  the 
depravation  of  the  intellect ;  a  change  must  first 
take  place  in  the  intellectual  power.  At  the 
time  of  the  fall,  this  power,  becoming  darkened, 
was  led  to  view  the  relations  of  things  in  a  dif- 
ferent light  from  what  they  appear  to  the  di- 
vine Intellect.  It  must  therefore  now  have  its 
faculties  so  cleared  up,  as  to  view  them  in  the 
same  light  in  which  God's  Intellect  views  them. 


TJie  Doctrine  of  Sanctijication.  91 

When  the  understanding  is  thus  reformed  so 
as  to  have  an  accurate  perception  of  right  and 
wrong  according  to  the  unerring  standard  of  the 
divine  judgment,  it  is  obviously  prepared  to  be 
the  instrument  of  moderating  the  will  and  the  af- 
fections. A  notion  of  right  being  distinctly  pre- 
sented to  the  mind,  the  will  is  strongly  induced 
to  choose  it :  and,  a  notion  of  wrong  being  no 
less  distinctly  presented  to  the  mind,  the  will  is 
strongly  induced  to  reject  it. 

But,  right  and  wrong  appearing  in  their  true 
colours  to  a  reformed  intellect,  and  the  will  ope- 
rating upon  each  to  choose  or  to  reject  it,  the  af- 
fections now  come  forcibly  into  play.  What  the 
will  prefers,  according  to  the  dictates  of  a  re- 
formed intellect,  produces  the  affection  of  love 
towards  it :  and  what  the  will  rejects,  still  ac- 
cording to  the  dictates  of  a  reformed  intellect, 
produces  the  affection  of  hatred  towards  it. 

This  retrograde  working  of  the  soul,  by  which 
its  darkened  intellect,  its  distorted  will,  and  its 
debased  affections,  are  brought  into  unison  with 
the  luminous  intellect,  the  unoblique  will,  and 
the  pure  affections,  of  the  Divinity,  is  the  sum 
and  substance  of  Christian  Sanctification. 

4.  Scripture  universally  represents  fallen  man, 
as  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  and  as  utterly  un- 
able by  his  own  unassisted  powers  to  raise  him- 
self up  to   the  life  of  righteousness.     He  has 


02  The  Doctrine  of  Sanctificatioji. 

wandered  from  the  fold  of  God :  but  he  cannot 
by  himself  retrace  his  steps.  He  has  corrupted 
himself  by  many  inventions :  but  he  cannot 
wash  away  the  stain  of  that  corruption.  His  in- 
tellect is  darkened :  but  he  cannot  illuminate  it. 
His  will  is  distorted :  but  he  cannot  rectify  it. 
His  affections  are  polluted :  but  he  cannot  puri- 
fy them.  Hence  he  has  need  of  some  extrinsic 
assistance  to  bring  him  into  a  state  of  unanimity 
with  God. 

Scripture  accordingly  teaches  us,  in  full  agree- 
ment with  the  doctrine  of  man's  complete  ina- 
bility, that  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  is  the  grand 
agent  in  working  that  salutary  change  in  the 
soul,  which  causes  it  once  more  in  all  faculties 
to  harmonize  with  the  Deity,  This  blessed  per- 
sonage illuminates  the  darkened  understanding ; 
and  then,  using  it  as  a  proper  effective  instru- 
ment, by  it  as  a  secondary  cause  rectifies  the 
will  and  purifies  the  affections.  The  man,  be- 
ing now  made  at  unity  with  God,  becomes  qual- 
ified for  the  divine  presence  :  and  thus,  as  God 
the  Son  effected  his  Justification,  by  which  he 
obtained  a  right  to  the  heavenly  inheritance  ;  so 
God  the  Holy  Ghost  completes  his  Sanctifica- 
tion,  by  which  he  is  7Jiade  meet  (as  the  apostle 
expresses  it)  for  the  inheritance  of  the  sahits  in 
light. 


The  Doctrine  of  Sanctijication.  93 

5.  It  is  manifest,  that  the  change,  which  has 
been  described,  is  altogether  internal^  altogether 
of  a  spiritual  nature.  It  will  indeed  abundantly 
shew  its  reality  by  the  outward  fruits  of  right- 
eousness, which  are  produced  in  consequence  of 
it :  but  still  the  change  itself  is  much  more  than 
a  mere  outward  reformation  of  conduct :  still 
the  change  itself  is  a  radical  change  of  the  whole 
soul. 

This  is  the  special  particular  in  which  the  re- 
newed Christian  differs  from  the  mere  decorous 
moralist.     It  is  not  that  their  outrvard  actions 
will  not,  in  various  instances,  be  precisely  the 
same  ;  for,  though  a  man  may  be  a  moralist  with- 
out being  a  Christian,  no  man  can  be  a  Christian, 
without  being  a  moralist :  but  these  similar  out- 
ward actions  proceed  from  wholly  dissimilar  in- 
ward principles.  Many  social  good  deeds  may  be 
performed,  many  moral  precepts  may  be  duly  ob- 
served, without  any  reference  to  the  mind  of  God. 
The  Supreme  Governor  does  indeed  approve  of 
such  a  system  of  conduct,  and  requires  it  at  the 
hand  of  all  his  servants :  but  the  system  may  be 
adopted  without  any  previous  regard  to  his  ap- 
probation, and  may  be  pursued  without  any  di^ 
rect  view  to  his  requisition.     Stoical  pride,  a  re- 
gard to  decency  of  character,  a  sense  of  social 
convenience,  a  desire  of  the  approbation  of  his 
fellows,  a  fear  of  inconvenience,  and  various 


94  The  Doctrine  of  Sanctification. 

other  inferior  motives,  may  influence  a  man  to 
persevere  in  a  highly  decorous  and  useful  line 
of  behaviour  ;  while  the  will  of  God  is  altogeth- 
er overlooked,  or  slighted,  or  thrown  out  of  the 
account.  If  the  unreformed  intellect  view  some 
matters  in  the  same  light  with  the  divine  Intel- 
lect ;  it  is  not  on  the  same  grounds  and  princu 
pies,  nor  is  it  in  consequence  of  any  assimilation 
of  the  one  to  the  other :  if  the  distorted  will  af- 
fect some  things  which  the  divine  Will  affects ; 
it  is  from  mere  particular  self-impulse,  without 
any  general  identity  of  volition,  and  without  any 
distinct  or  permanent  reference  to  tlie  behests 
of  that  higher  Will :  if  the  corrupt  affections  in- 
cline to  some  things,  to  which  the  divine  Affec- 
tions incline ;  it  is  still  after  a  partial  and  arbi- 
trary manner,  with  a  sort  of  indefinite  love  in- 
deed for  some  matters  which  God  loves,  but  with 
a  positive  and  vehement  hatred  for  other  mat- 
ters which  are  equally  loved  by  God.  Nor  is 
this  all :  while  certain  ouhvard  decencies  and 
duties  are  tolerably  attended  to  by  the  mere 
moralist  ;  the  internal  regulation  of  the  mind, 
with  respect  to  God  as  the  supreme  governor  of 
the  world  of  spirits,  is  little  regarded. 

Such  indeed  is  the  natural  consequence  of  the 
understanding  being  darkened  by  the  fall.  It 
perceives  not  the  heinousness  of  sin  in  its  first 
secret  workings.     It  regards  it  not  as  a  piinci- 


The  Doctrine  of  Sanctification.  95 

pie,  because  from  various  preventing  causes  it 
may  not  be  openly  developed  in  this  or  that  par- 
ticular action.  It  objects  to  sin,  only  wrhen  dis- 
played in  all  its  naked  deformity  by  some  fla- 
grant tangible  deed.  Even  many  outward  acts 
of  sin  do  not  meet  with  any  very  violent  censure 
from  it.  Provided  they  be  not  so  gross  as  to 
shock  every  sense  of  decorum,  provided  they  do 
not  palpably  and  outrageously  injure  society, 
provided  in  short  they  be  offences  rather  against 
God  than  man ;  the  intellect,  in  the  darkened 
state  in  which  it  has  been  left  by  the  fall,  will 
be  much  more  disposed  to  palliate  and  gloss 
them  over  than  to  view  them  as  highly  culpable 
deviations  from  the  line  of  duty. 

The  whole  of  this  radically  false  estimate  of 
right  and  wrong  springs  from  a  radical  fault  in 
the  understanding  of  what  Scripture  calls  the 
natural  man  ;  that  is  to  say,  man  as  he  is  born 
into  the  world  of  his  natural  parents  ever  since 
the  primeval  transgression  of  Adam :  and  the 
true  ground  of  this  radical  fault  in  the  under- 
standing is,  as  I  have  already  stated,  a  deflection 
of  the  human  intellect  from  the  divine  Intellect, 
so  that  things  no  longer  appear  in  the  same  light 
to  the  one  that  they  do  to  the  other.  Hence, 
the  very  principle  of  the  sinfulness  of  sin  being 
overlooked,  namely  its  rebellious  cojiti-arietij  to 
the  will  and  purposes  of  God;  it  is  no  wonder, 


96  The  Doctrine  of  Sanctijication, 

that  both  the  inward  operations  of  the  mind,  and 
even  many  outward  actions,  should  be  consider- 
ed as  mere  trifles,  to  censure  which  would  be 
a  superfluous  and  narrow-minded  preciseness. 

But  the  enlightened  intellect,  or  the  intellect 
•brought  by  the  Holy  Spirit  into  unison  with  the 
divine  Intellect,  is  accustomed  to  view  every 
thing,  not  merely  according  to  its  external  de- 
velopement,  but  with  an  express  reference  to  a 
settled  first  principle.  This  principle  is,  that  the 
sovereign  will  of  God,  guided  by  infinite  wisdom 
and  swayed  by  ineffable  purity,  determines  the 
moral  relations  of  all  things ;  that  not  merely 
obedience  to,  but  full  acquiescence  in,  this  deter- 
mination is  required  of  every  subject  inteUigent 
creature ;  and,  consequently,  that  not  only  an 
open  disobedience  to  such  determination,  but  all 
secret  mental  resistance  of  whatsoever  descrip- 
tion, is  rebellion  against  the  high  majesty  of 
heaven.  To  this  principle  every  thought,  word, 
and  deed,  is  systematically  referred :  and,  as  the 
intellect  in  the  course  of  its  progressive  illumi- 
nation has  its  views  of  things  daily  more  and 
more  assimilated  to  those  of  the  divine  Intellect, 
it  acquires  a  sort  of  jealous  discernment,  a  sort 
of  microscopic  accuracy,  to  which  in  its  previous 
state  of  darkness  it  was  altogether  a  stranger. 
The  essence  of  sin  is  acknowledged  to  be  re- 
heUion  against  God :  hence  it  can  allow  no  sins 


The  Doctrine  of  Sajicfificatmi,         97 

to  be  properly  styled  verdal  and  trifling.  Not 
only  therefore  are  outward  sins  of  every  kind 
and  degree  viewed  as  so  many  acts  of  rebellion  : 
but  each  evil  working  of  the  heart,  each  de- 
praved cogitation  of  the  mind,  each  embryo 
purpose  of  wickedness,  each  malignant  feelings 
each  rising  of  impatience,  each  fret'ful  act  of  re- 
pining against  the  course  of  God's  providence, 
each  want  of  cheerful  acquiescence  in  his  pur- 
poses, each  defect  even  of  love  to  him  as  our 
maker  and  benefactor,  is  considered  as  essen- 
tially rebellious  and  therefore  essentially  sinful. 

Such  is  the  operation  of  the  enlightened  in- 
tellect in  its  view  of  things :  that  is  to  say,  it  is 
brought  according  to  the  degree  of  its  illumina- 
tion to  estimate  things,  not  by  an  arbitrary  scale 
of  man's  contrivance,  but  as  they  are  estimated 
by  the  divine  Intellect.  And  analogous  to  this 
operation  of  the  enlightened  intellect  is  the 
working  of  the  renewed  will  and  affections.  He, 
who  has  indeed  been  sanctified  by  the  blessed 
Spirit  of  grace,  not  only  views  things  intellec- 
tually as  they  are  viewed  by  the  Supreme  Ruler, 
but  heartily  wills  and  loves  the  things  which 
God  wills  and  loves,  while  he  heartily  rejects  and 
abhors  the  things  which  God  rejects  and  abhors. 
His  fixed  purpose  is  uniform  obedience  and  en- 
tire submission  to  the  divine  government:  he 
labours  to  perfect  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God  '  he 

Faber.       14 


98  The  Dodrifie  of  Sanctiflcation, 

strives  to  be  holy  as  God  is  holy,  and  pure  as 
God  is  pure.  In  short,  as  Sanctification  is  alto- 
gether internal,  though  it  will  ever  evince  its 
reality  by  external  actions,  the  holy  man  is  dis- 
tinguished from  the  natural  man  by  an  entirely 
new  state  of  mind,  through  which  he  becomes 
a  totally  different  creature  from  what  he  himself 
was  heretofore.  Old  things  are  passed  away, 
and  all  things  are  become  new.  He  has  been 
brought  out  of  darkness  into  God^s  mai^ellous 
light.  He  has  been  renexved  in  the  spirit  of  his 
mind.  He  has  put  on  the  neiv  man,  ivhich  after 
God  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness. 
Being  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  his  mind,  he  is  a 
partaker  of  the  holiness  of  God,  His  views  of 
things  may  indeed  seem  irrational  to  the  human 
intellect,  as  it  is  left  darkened  by  the  fall :  but 
this  is  nothing  more  than  what  God's  word  has 
prepared  him  to  expect,  and  what  indeed  is  the 
necessary  consequence  of  his  intellect  being 
brought  into  harmony  with  that  divine  Intellect 
from  which  the  understanding  of  corrupt  man 
has  so  widely  departed.  We  have  received,  not 
the  spirit  of  the  world,  but  the  spirit  which  is  of 
God ;  that  we  might  know  the  things  which  are 
freely  given  to  us  of  God.  Which  things  also  we 
speak,  not  in  the  words  which  man^s  wisdom  teach- 
eth,  but  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth  ;  compar- 
ing spiritual  things  with  spiritual.    But  the  natu- 


The  Doctrine  of  Sanctijlcation.  99 

ral  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of 
God :  for  they  are  foolishness  unto  him  ;  neither 
can  he  know  them^  because  they  are  spiritually 
discerned.^ 

6.  Now,  as  the  several  spiritual  faculties  of 
man  are  thus  debased  by  the  fall,  and  as  the 
whole  work  of  Sanctification  consists  in  bringing 
them  back  to  their  original  condition  as  they 
subsisted  in  Adam  when  he  was  first  created :  it 
is  obvious,  that  there  must  be  some  turning  point 
from  evil  to  good,  some  precise  time  in  which 
each  individual  begins  to  experience  the  holy 
change  that  has  been  described.  For,  as  the 
natural  man  has  his  understanding  darkened,  his 
will  distorted,  and  his  affections  vitiated ;  and 
as  the  same  man,  when  sanctified,  has  his  undei"- 
standing  enlightened,  his  will  rectified,  and  his 
affections  purified :  it  is  perfectly  clear,  that  so 
entire  a  change  from  one  condition  of  soul  to 
another  condition  of  soul  cannot  possibly  have 
taken  place  without  beginning  to  take  place  ;  it 
is  perfectly  clear,  that  this  great  work  of  Sanc- 
tification must  have  had  a  commencement.  Such 
a  commencement  accordingly  is  both  always 
supposed  in  holy  scripture,  whenever  Sanctifi- 
cation is  either  described  or  alluded  to  ;  and  it 

*  1  Corin.  ii.  12,  13,  14. 


100         The  Doctrine  of  Sanctijication, 

is  likewise  expressly  mentioned  under  its  own 
special  and  appropriate  name. 

Thus  we  read  of  Christians  being  called  out 
of  darkness  into  God^s  marvelloiis  light :  and  this 
important  change  in  their  spiritual  condition  is 
immediately  afterwards  elucidated  by  our  being 
told,  that  in  time  past  they  were  not  a  people^  but 
are  now  the  people  of  God.*  Thus  likewise  it  is 
said,  that  believers  were  sometimes  darkness^  hut 
that  now  they  are  light  in  the  Lord :  whence  they 
are  exhorted  to  walk  as  children  of  light. ^  And 
thus  the  natural  man,  in  order  that  he  may  be  a 
partaker  of  this  change,  is  solemnly  addressed, 
Awake  ^  thou  that  steepest^  and  arise  from  the  dead  ; 
and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light. % 

In  all  these  passages  (and  it  were  easy  to  mu]» 
tiply  them,)  two  states  diametrically  ojDposite 
to  each  other  are  manifestly  spoken  of:  and  the 
commencing  pointy  when  the  man  first  turned 
from  darkness  to  light,  when  the  sleeper  first 
awoke  from  his  sleep  and  rose  from  a  condition 
of  figurative  death,  is  plainly  supposed.  Nor 
can  it  be  reasonably  said,  that  this  turning  point 
is  a  mere  speculative  conversion  from  Paganism 
to  Christianity  :  for  two  essentially  different  con- 
ditions  of  mind^  not  simply  trvo  theoretically  differ- 
ent conditions  of  opinion^  are  plainly  described, 

*lPet.  iL  9,  10,  jEph.  v.  8,  :j:Eph.  v.  14. 


The  Doctrine  of  Sanctification,  101 

The  one  is  a  condition  of  deathlike  sleep  and 
palpable  darkness  ;  and  they,  who  are  in  this 
state,  work  the  deeds  of  darkness :  the  other  is 
a  condition  of  life  and  light ;  and  they,  who  are 
in  this  state,  evince  their  difference  from  those 
who  are  not  in  it  by  walking  as  children  of  light. 
A  transition  therefore  from  one  condition  of  soul 
to  another  condition  of  soul  is  evidently  set  forth 
as  taking  place  in  every  real  Christian :  and,  if 
a  transition,  then  of  course  a  commencement  of 
that  transition. 

,  Agreeably  to  such  a  conclusion,  we  find  this 
commencement  of  holiness  described  by  our  Lord 
under  that  name  which  he  deemed  the  most 
fitting  and  appropriate.  As  a  child,  when  pro- 
duced from  the  womb  of  its  mother,  passes  from 
darkness  to  light  and  from  a  state  of  insensibili- 
ty to  a  state  of  vital  energy :  so,  when  the  work 
of  Sanctification  commences  in  every  faculty  of 
the  soul,  the  subject  of  this  work  is  similarly  said, 
in  the  language  of  Scripture,  to  pass  from  dark- 
ness to  light  and  from  deathlike  slumber  to  ac- 
tive and  conscious  animation.  Hence  the  meta- 
phor, by  which  our  Lord  has  thought  fit  to  de- 
scribe the  beginning  of  Sanctification  in  the  soul 
of  man,  is  taken  from  the  natural  birth  of  an  in- 
fant.  Nor  could  any  expression  be  found, 
either  more  admirably  adapted  to  point  out  the 
commencement  of  a  new  life  as  the  life  of  a  re- 


102         The  Doctrine  of  Sanctijication, 

generated  believer  may  well  be  styled,  or  better 
suited  for  the  accredited  phraseology  of  a  reli- 
gion which  was  destined  to  be  preached  to  the 
whole  pagan  world.  "When  the  soul  of  a  man 
is  altogether  renewed  in  every  faculty,  he  may 
well  be  said  to  be  born  again  into  a  new  state  of 
spiritual  existence  altogether  different  from  that 
which  previously  characterised  him :  thus  ex- 
actly suitable  is  the  metaphor  in  itself.  And  it 
was  equally  adapted  for  an  easy  reception 
among  those  of  the  Gentiles,  to  whom  the  Gos- 
pel was  first  preached.  Every  one,  who  was 
initiated  into  the  ancient  pagan  Mysteries  which 
were  established  with  wonderful  uniformity  in  al- 
most all  parts  of  the  habitable  globe,  was  reputed 
to  be  born  again,  to  have  passed  from  a  region  of 
death  and  darkness  to  a  region  of  life  and  illu- 
mination, and  to  be  admitted  to  certain  high 
privileges  from  which  the  profane  or  the  unini- 
tiated were  necessarily  excluded.  Now  this 
very  metaphor,  which  was  perfectly  familiar  to 
the  Gentiles,  our  Lord  has  been  pleased  to  adopt : 
and  his  Gospel  was  thus  prepared  to  shew  them 
a  more  excellent  way,  than  that  in  which  they 
had  hitherto  walked  ;  to  invite  them  to  partake 
of  a  better  Regeneration,  than  the  fantastical 
new  birth  of  the  Orgies  ;  and  to  declare  to  them, 
that  an  initiation  by  God's  Holy  Spirit  into  Mys- 
teries, which  were  truly  divine,  would  indeed 


The  Doctrine  of  Sandification.         lOS 

emancipate  them  from  the  dark  thraldom  of  the 
body,  and  make  them  in  the  highest  sense  of 
the  words  children  of  light.^ 

Regeneration  then,  or  as  it  is  sometimes  term- 
ed the  New  Creation,  being  the  com?ne?icement 
of  Sanctification ;  if  Sanctification  be  essentially 
necessary  to  qualify  fallen  man  for  the  presence 
of  God,  as  the  text  expressly  asserts  it  to  be, 
Regeneration  must  of  course  be  equally  neces- 
sary, because  Sanctification  cannot  clearly  exist 
at  all  without  comniencing  to  exist.  Hence, 
while  the  apostle  of  Christ  exhorts  us  to  follow 
holiness,  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord; 
Christ  himself  declares,  that,  except  a  man  be 
horn  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God.f 
The  one  speaks  of  the  progress  of  the  divine 
life ;  the  other  speaks  of  its  commencement :  the 
one  enforces  what  is  styled  in  Scripture  a  growth 
in  grace  ;  the  other  urges  the  necessity  oi  a  first 
implantation  of  the  holy  principle.  But  the 
drift  is  still  in  both  cases  precisely  the  same  : 
without  a  life  of  holiness  no  man  can  see  the 
Lord ;  but  a  spiritual  new  birth  is  just  as  neces- 
sary for  the  existence  of  such  a  life,  as  a  natural 

*  See  these  ideas  and  other  important  matters,  which  in- 
volve a  plain  allusion  to  the  phraseology  of  the  ancient  Mys- 
teries, discussed  at  large  in  vol.  ii.  serra.  2  and  ". 

I  John  iii.  3. 


1 04^  The  Doctrine  of  Sanctijication, 

birth  is  necessary  for  the  existence  of  natural 
life.  Holiness  is  an  indispensable  qualification 
for  heaven :  and,  as  we  are  not  holy  by  nature, 
as  we  are  born  in  sin  and  the  children  of  wrath ; 
the  very  admission  of  the  doctrine  of  Original 
Depravity  requires  and  supposes  the  doctrine  of 
Regeneration  in  order  to  our  being  made  fit  for 
the  inheritance  of  the  glorified  saints. 

7.  Yet,  as  Regeneration  is  the  commencement 
only  of  the  divine  life  ;  so  Sanctification,  while 
we  continue  on  this  side  of  the  grave,  is  always 
progressive  but  never  perfect.  Though  the 
Christian,  to  adopt  the  allegory  of  St.  John, 
gradually  advances  from  an  infant  in  religion  to 
a  young  man,  and  from  a  young  man  to  the  con- 
dition of  a  spiritual  father ;  yet,  even  in  his  best 
estate,  he  is  conscious  that  he  falls  very  short  of 
the  standard  which  an  enlighted  intellect  pro- 
poses to  him. 

Hence,  in  every  stage  of  his  Sanctification, 
his  language  is  still  that  of  St.  Paul :  M)t  as 
though  I  had  already  attained,  either  were  already 
perfect ;  but  I  follow  after,  if  that  I  may  appre- 
hend that  for  which  also  I  am  apprehended  of 
Christ  Jesus.  Brethren,  I  count  not  my  self  to  have 
apprehended :  hut  this  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting 
those  things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth 
unto  those  things  which  are  before,  I  press  toward 


The  Doctrine  of  Sanctificatio?i.  1 05 

the  mark,  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God 
in  Christ  Jesns.^ 

Nor  is  he  less  aware  of  his  tendency  to  ab- 
solute sin,  than  he  is  of  mere  imperfection. 
With  the  same  apostle,  he  can  again  feelingly 
confess,  /  find  then  a  law,  that,  when  I  would  do 
good,  evil  is  present  with  me.  For  I  delight  in  the 
law  of  God  after  the  inward  man:  hid  I  see 
another  law  in  my  members,  warring  against  the 
law  of  my  mind,  and  bringing  me  into  captivity 
to  the  law  of  sin  which  is  in  my  members.f 

His  confession  in  short  is  that  of  the  strictly 
evangelical  Church  of  England.  Original  sin  is 
the  faidt  and  corruption  of  the  nature  of  every 
man,  that  naturally  is  engendered  of  the  offspring 
of  Mam :  whereby  man  is  very  far  gone  from 
original  righteousness,  and  is  of  his  own  nature 
inclined  to  evil ;  so  that  the  flesh  lusteth  always 
contrary  to  the  spirit.  And  this  infection  of  na- 
ture  doth  remain,  yea  in  them  that  are  regener- 
ated ;  whereby  the  lust  of  the  flesh  is  not  subject  to 
the  will  of  God.X 

The  work  of  Sanctification  must  begin  indeed 
upon  earth,  and  must  be  in  a  state  of  gradual 
progress  and  advancement,  so  that  a  new  and  de- 
cisive bent  is  given  to  every  faculty  of  the  mind ; 

*  Philip,  iii.  12,  13,  14.  f  Rom.  vii.  22,  23, 

\  Art.  ix. 

Faber,  15 


106         The  Doctrine  of  Sanctification. 

but  it  will  be  consummated  only  in  a  better  soil 
and  a  more  genial  climate. 

II.  The  apostle  enforces  his  injunction  to /oZ- 
low  holiness  by  solemnly  declaring,  that  without 
it  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord, 

We  might  well  be  satisfied  with  the  simple 
assertion  itself,  resting  as  it  does  on  the  divine 
authority  of  the  speaker :  for,  if  by  the  voice  of 
inspiration  God  declares  this  to  be  the  case,  who 
shall  presume  to  contravene  his  sovereign  de- 
cision ?  Yet,  as  all  his  decisions  are  founded 
on  the  immutable  principles  of  right  reason,  and 
spring  not  either  from  a  Wind  fate  or  an  arbi- 
trary capriciousness  ;  it  will  not  be  useless  to 
shew,  that  such  is  also  the  characteristic  of  this 
which  is  at  present  before  us. 

The  declaration  then,  that  without  holiness  no 
man  shall  see  the  Lord,  and  the  parallel  declara- 
tion of  Christ,  that  except  a  man  he  born  again  he 
cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God,  depend  equally 
upon  the  eternal  and  unchangeable  relation  of 
things  to  each  other. 

It  is  not  merely,  that  God  wills  not  to  admit 
the  unholy  into  his  presence  ;  but  that,  consist- 
ently with  his  attributes,  he  cannot.  As  well 
might  light  and  darkness,  or  heat  and  cold,  sub- 
sist together  in  the  same  place  at  the  same  time, 
as  holiness  and  unholiness  amicably  coexist  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.     In  each  case,  a  direct 


The  Doctrine  of  Sanctijication.         107 

contradiction  would  be  involved :  and  we  might 
as  well  say,  that  the  same  tract  could  be  at 
once  both  light  and  dark,  or  that  the  same  sub- 
stance could  be  at  once  both  hot  and  cold  ;  or  that 
the  same  God  could  be  at  once  both  holy  and  un- 
holy ;  as  we  might  say,  that  a  most  holy  governor 
of  the  moral  world  could  admit  into  his  immediate 
presence  a  race  of  essentially  unholy  beings, 
could  view  them  himself  With  complacency,  and 
could  in  return  constitute  their  highest  happi- 
ness and  enjoyment.  Whether  we  view  the 
question,  as  affecting  God,  or  as  affecting  the  un- 
sanctified ;  in  either  case,  the  physical  impossi- 
bility of  amicable  coexistence  will  be  ahke  ap- 
parent. Rational  beings  can  only  be  happy  with 
other  rational  beings,  whose  pursuits  and  tastes 
are  similar  to  their  own.  For,  if  we  bring  be- 
ings together  whose  pursuits  and  tastes  are  radi- 
cally dissimilar,  a  perpetual  jarring  of  inclination 
must  evidently  be  the  result :  and,  where  such 
jarring  takes  place,  it  is  clearly  frapossible  that 
there  can  be  any  happiness.  On  this  ground,  an 
intimate  association  with  the  unholy  is  incom- 
patible with  the  felicity  of  God  :  and,  as  a  holy 
God  by  the  very  constitution  of  his  nature  cannot 
but  be  happy;  so,  because  he  cannot  but  be 
happy,  he  cannot  but  exclude  the  unholy  from 
his  presence. 

On  the  same  ground  also,  an  intimate  asso- 
ciation with  God  would  be  incapable  of  produc" 


108  The  Doctrine  of  Sanctification. 

ing  any  felicity  in  the  souls  of  the  unholy ;  be^ 
cause  like  can  only  amicably  amalgamate  with 
like.  Happiness  does  not  depend  upon  mere 
locality :  it  is  rather  a  constitution  of  the  mind. 
If  then  every  pursuit  and  every  taste  of  God  and 
his  angels  and  his  glorified  saints  be  altogether 
loathsome  to  the  unholy ;  it  is  manifest,  that  to 
dwell  in  the  perpetual  presence  of  such  blessed 
beings,  so  far  from  conveying  any  pleasure  to 
the  souls  of  the  unsanctified,  would  be  rather  an 
insufferable  torment.  They  would  want  that 
meetnessfor  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light, 
which  the  apostle  so  strenuously  insists  upon  : 
and,  wanting  the  meetness  for  it,  they  must  in 
the  very  nature  of  things  be  incapable  of  the  en- 
joyment of  it.  An  unholy  being  would  not  be 
happy  in  heaven,  even  if  it  were  possible  for 
him  to  abide  there.  Heaven  itself  would  be  no 
heaven  to  the  devil  and  his  angels  ;  and  as  little 
would  it  be  a  heaven  to  his  cliildren  of  mortal 
origin.  Even  in  this  life,  the  unholy  hate  the 
society  of  the  holy  :  they  can  abide  in  it  with 
patience,  only  while  the  characteristic  difference 
is  kept  Old  of  sight :  the  moment  that  difference 
is  prominently  exhibited  to  them,  either  in  word 
or  deed  ;  their  wrath  and  hatred  and  dissatisfac- 
tion is  either  clearly  displayed,  or  at  the  best 
but  imperfectly  concealed.  Now,  in  heaven, 
the  characteristic  difference  between  the  holv 


The  Doctrine  of  Sanctification,        109 

and  unholy  will  never  for  a  moment  be  invisi- 
ble :  the  holy  will  never  there  appear,  but  pal- 
pably as  the  holy :  every  secular  employment 
being  then  at  an  end,  of  which  in  this  world 
good  and  bad  are  alike  partakers,  each  pursuit 
and  thought  and  wish  of  the  holy  will  be  essen- 
tially and  exclusively  holy.  Such  being  the 
case,  they,  who  abhor  the  fellowship  of  the  holy 
here ;  and  who  can  only  tolerate  them,  while, 
in  the  ordinary  course  of  necessary  business, 
their  specific  character  lies  as  it  were  dormant : 
they,  who  thus  abhor  their  fellowship  here, 
would  still  more  energetically  abhor  it  hereafter. 
The  unholy  in  fact,  by  the  very  constitution  of 
their  nature,  stand  self-excluded  from  the  king- 
dom of  heaven.  They  labour  under  a  physical 
incapacity  of  enjoyment.  They  must  expe- 
rience a  radical  change,  ere  they  be  capable  of 
entering  into  the  presence  of  God. 

Thus  irrevocable,  in  the.  very  nature  of  things, 
is  the  decision,  that  without  holiness  no  man  shall 
see  the  Lord  :  and  consequently,  since  Regener- 
ation is  the  commencement  of  holiness,  equally 
irrevocable  is  the  decision,  that,  except  a  man  be 
horn  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God. 

III.  The  practical  conclusion  from  the  fWhole 
is  sufficiently  obvious. 

If  Sanctification  be  what  we  have  shewn  it  to 
be,  and  if  it  be  essentially  necessary  for  the  en- 


110         TJie  Doctrine  of  Sandijication. 

joyment  and  therefore  for  the  acquisition  of 
heaven ;  the  exhortation  of  the  apostle,  that  we 
should  follow  holiness  stands  self-approved  and 
self-recommended.  It  is  our  interest  therefore, 
no  less  than  our  duty,  to  beseech  the  gracious 
Father  of  all  lights,  that  he  would  abundantly 
shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  the  Spirit  of  Sanctifi- 
cation ;  that  so,  being  horn  again,  not  of  blood, 
nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man, 
kilt  of  Gocl,^  we  may  daily  from  this  beginning 
advance  to  yet  higher  and  higher  degrees  of  ho- 
Kness. 

Of  ourselves  indeed  we  are  not  able  to  create 
ourselves  anew  to  good  works  ;  and  thus,  by  na- 
ture, we  labour  under  a  moral  incapacity  of 
profiting  by  our  free  Justification.  But  God  is 
ever  willing  and  ready  both  to  quicken,  to 
strengthen,  and  to  stablish,  us.  He  requires 
nothing  at  the  hands  of  his  creatures,  but  what 
he  has  promised  that  he  will  enable  them  to 
perform.  Hence  we  may  well  be  confident  of 
this  very  thing,  that  he,  which  hath  begun  a  good 
work  in  us,  will  perform  it  unto  the  day  of  Jesus 
Christ.f 

With  such  encouragement,  it  remains  for  us 
to  press  forward,  considering  nothing  as  done, 
while  any  thing  remains  undone.     The  present 

*  John  i.  13.  t  Philip,  i.  6. 


The  Doctrine  of  Sanctificatmi,        ill 

day  is  the  seed-time  for  eternity.  God  grant, 
that  we  may  so  avail  ourselves  of  it ;  that,  when 
the  harvest  shall  come,  and  when  all  things  that 
offend  are  cast  out  as  tares,  we  may  be  gathered 
as  well  grown  wheat  into  the  mystical  barn  of 
our  heavenly  Father. 


SERMON  V. 


THE   DOCTRINE    OF   REGENERATION,    ACCORDING    TO  SCRIP. 
TURE  AND  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND. 


ROMANS    II.    S8,    29. 


He  is  not  a  Jew,  which  is  one  outwardly  ;  neither  is  that 
circumcision,  which  is  outward  in  the  Jiesh  ;  but  he  is  a 
Jexv,  which  is  one  inwardly  ;  and  circwncision  is  that 
of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit,  and  not  in  the  letter  ;  whose 
praise  is  not  of  men,  but  of  God. 

JUSTIFICATION  through  the  alone  merits 
of  Jesus  Christ  gives  us  a  right  and  title  to  the 
kingdom  of  heaven :  but  Sanctification  through 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  no  less  necessary,  in  order 
that  we  may  be  'duly  qualified  for  our  purchased 
inheritance.  These  two  therefore  may  well  be 
deemed  the  two  hinges,  on  which  turns  the 
whole  of  Christianity.  Either  without  the  other 
is  imperfect:  for,  as  Sanctification  separated 
from  Justification  would  be  a  quahfication  with- 


Tfie  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.  lis 

out  a  right,  so  Justification  separated  from  Sanc- 
tification  would  be  a  right  without  a  qualification. 
In  each  genuine  servant  of  the  Lord,  the  two  are 
ever  indissolubly  united  :  and,  what  God  lias 
joined  together,  let  not  man  presume  to  separate. 

Sanctification  however,  being  a  condition  of 
soul  which  no  person  brings  with  him  originally 
into  the  world,  must  of  course  have  a  com- 
mencement subsequent  to  the  natural  birth  :  for 
we  are  born  by  nature  children  of  wrath  ;  whence 
it  is  only  afterzvards,  that  by  the  operation  of 
God's  most  Holy  Spirit  we  become  sanctified 
children  of  grace.  Now  this  commencement  of 
Sanctification  our  Lord,  by  a  very  obvious 
and  significant  metaphor,  has  thought  fit  to  de- 
nominate Regeneration  or  a  Kew  Birth ;  be- 
cause, when  Sanctification  commences,  the  sub- 
ject of  it  enters  into  an  altogether  new  life  or 
mode  of  spiritual  existence.  And,  as  this  con- 
version from  darkness  to  light  and  from  evil  to 
good  is  a  matter  of  the  most  primary  impor- 
tance in  the  case  of  every  believer ;  our  Lord 
has  further  judged  it  expedient  to  represent  it 
scenically  before  our  eyes  by  outward  and  pal- 
pable symbolization.  The  emblem  according- 
ly, which  he  has  selected  for  such  a  purpose,  is 
pure  water  as  applied  in  the  sacrament  of  Bap- 
tism. Thus,  while  in  one  passage  he  declares, 
that,  except  a  man  be  horri  of  watenand  of  the 

Faber,       16 


114         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

Spirit^  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  ;* 
in  another  passage  he  solemnly  enjoins  his  apos- 
tles to  go  and  teach  all  nations^  haptizing  them  in 
the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.-f  Hence,  as  our  Church  rightly 
pronounces  a  sacrament  in  general  to  be  an 
outward  and  visible  sign  of  an  inward  and  spir- 
itual grace :  so  it  specially  teaches,  that  the  out- 
ward visible  sign  or  form  indeed  in  Baptism  is 
water,  but  that  the  inward  and  spiritual  grace  is 
a  death  unto  sin  and  a  new  birth  unto  righteous- 
ness. Baptism  then  is  the  symbol,  and  Regen- 
eration is  the  grace  symbohzed :  and  the  due 
administration  of  the  former  is  a  mean  whereby 
we  may  receive  the  latter,  a  pledge  or  earnest  on 
the  part  of  God  to  assure  lis  of  it. 

Thus  far  perhaps  all  Christians  are  agreed, 
who  admit  the  literal  use  of  Baptism  to  be  a 
divine  obligatory  institution:  but  here  an  im- 
portant question  arises,  on  which  there  has  not 
always  been  an  equal  unanimity  of  sentiment. 
Does  the  inward  grace  of  Regeneration  always 
accompany  the  outward  sign  of  Baptism  :  or  is 
it  possible,  that  either  may  subsist  without  the 
other? 

They,  who  hold  the  latter  of  these  opinions, 
contend,  that,  as  Baptism  is  professedly  the  sign 

*  John  iii.  5.  f  Matt,  xxviii.  19.  • 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         115 

only  of  Regeneration,  they  can  find  no  ground 
for  believing,  either  from  Scripture  or  from 
Reason,  or  from  Experience  or  from  Analogy, 
that  the  grace  symbolized  invariably  accompa- 
nies its  appointed  symbol.  They  pretend  not 
to  deny,  that  such  may  sometimes  be  the  case ; 
because,  as  Sanctification  must  needs  commence 
at  some  definite  moment,  ii  may  doubtless  com- 
mence in  the  very  article  of  Baptism  as  well  as 
at  any  other  time ;  but  they  are  constrained  to 
state,  that  as  yet  they  have  seen  no  suflicient 
proof  that  such  is  the  case  ahuays.  Hence  they 
are  led  to  maintain,  that  Regeneration  may  oc- 
casionally take  place  before  Baptism,  occasional- 
ly at  Baptism,  and  occasionally  after  Baptism  : 
and  they  are  willing  to  believe,  that  both  Scrip- 
ture and  Experience,  to  say  nothing  of  Reason 
and  Analogy,  will  bear  them  out  in  this  view  of 
the  subject. 

They,  on  the  contrary,  who  hold  the  former 
of  these  opinions,  contend,  if  I  mistake  not,  that 
Baptism  and  Regeneration  are  absolutely  insepa- 
rable. They  assert,  that,  not  only  is  Baptism 
the  outward  sign  of  Regeneration,  but  also  the 
procuring  cause  of  it.  Hence  they  teach,  that, 
where  Baptism  is,  thei^e  infallibly  is  Regenera- 
tion ;  and,  where  Baptism  is  not,  thei'e  assured- 
ly is  no  Regeneration.  All  the  baptized  there- 
fore are  regenerate ;  and,   conversely,  all  the 


116         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

unbaptized  are  unregenerate.  To  look,  conse- 
quently, for  any  Spiritual  Regeneration  subse- 
quent to  Baptism  is  plainly  nugatory  :  for  every 
baptized  person,  being  z/;so/ftc^o  regenerate,  can- 
not a  second  time  be  born  again,  though  from 
his  lapses  into  actual  sin  he  may  have  need  of 
frequent  renovations.  The  advocates  of  this 
opinion  strenuously  contend,  that  it  is  the  genu- 
ine doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England:  and 
they  are  very  apt,  with  what  controversial  equi- 
ty I  stop  not  to  inquire,  though  apparently  from 
not  having  themselves  sufficiently  considered  the 
subject  in  all  its  various  tendencies ;  they  are 
very  apt,  gratuitously  to  charge  their  opponents 
with  an  unwarrantable  or  even  an  heretical  de- 
parture from  the  avowed  sentiments  of  that 
Church,  and  not  unfrequently  to  intimate  (doubt- 
less by  way  of  satisfactorily  accounting  for  the 
alleged  fact  of  this  departure)  that  they  are  la- 
mentably deficient  in  the  highly  useful  qualifi- 
cation of  common  sense. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  this  confident  and  some- 
vdiat  indecorous  assumption  of  superiority,  the 
opinion,  which  they  espouse,  may  not  be  quite 
so  clearly  established  as  they  imagine.  At  least, 
as  the  cause  of  truth  will  ever  be  promoted  by 
discussion,  there  can  be  no  harm  in  entering 
somewhat  at  large  into  tlie  subject :  or  indeed. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         117 

I  should  rather  say,  the  subject  ought  to  be  fully 
treated. 

The  assertion,  that  a  certain  outward  appli- 
cation to  the  human  body  invariably  produces 
a  certain  inward  effect  upon  the  human  mind  5 
that,  the  moment  the  hand  of  a  priest  sprinkles 
water  upon  the  catechumen  or  plunges  him  whol- 
ly beneath  its  surface,  reciting  at  the  same  time 
a  formula  in  which  our  Lord  has  directed  the 
right  of  Baptism  to  be  administered,  at  that  iden- 
tical moment  his  soul  always  experiences  the 
commencement  of  Sanctification  and  becomes 
radically  changed  in  its  every  faculty ;  in  fine 
(for  this  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  matter,) 
that  God  should  have  been  pleased  to  confer, 
without  any  exception  to  the  general  rule^  upon  a 
particular  outward  action  of  his  appointed  minis- 
ters or  perhaps  (as  some  have  contended  with 
the  Church  of  Rome)  of  any  baptized  Christian 
where  a  priest  cannot  be  procured,  a  miraculous 
potency  of  affecting  the  very  soul  itself  through 
the  fleshly  veil  with  which  it  is  shrouded  :  an  as- 
sertion like  this,  so  extraordinary,  so  little 
agreeable  to  common  analogy,  so  portentously 
wonderful  under  whatever  aspect  it  be  viewed, 
manifestly  requires  the  highest  possible  degree 
of  proof  in  order  to  its  being  rationally  admitted. 

I  say  not  indeed,  that  it  advances  an  impossi- 
bility :  for  with  God,  no  doubt,  all  things,  which 


118         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

involve  not  an  absolute  contradiction,  are  possi- 
ble ;  and  he  may  invariably  communicate  to  a 
priest's  external  application  of  water  a  wondrous 
internal  power  over  the  human  mind.  But  this  I 
say,  that,  to  admit  the  truth  of  so  very  extraordi- 
nary an  assertion  td^^oz/if  the  most  ample  proof  o{ 
its  being  well  founded,  is  no  better  than  an  act 
of  superstition  worthy  only  of  the  darkest  ages 
of  Popery.  The  present  is  not  a  day  of  dis- 
graceful creduhty :  and  those  persons  will  do 
little  service  to  the  cause  of  genuine  religion, 
who  would  require  us  to  admit  an  assertion  with- 
out adequate  proof 

We  have  now  before  us  an  assertion  of  a  very 
remarkable  nature  ;  an  assertion  no  less,  than 
that  an  entire  change  of  mind  always  accompa- 
nies a  particnlar  outzvard  application  of  water. 
Here  we  must  carefully  note,  that  this  assertion 
respects,  not  merely  an  abstract  opinion^  but  an 
absolute  matter  of  fact.  Hence,  whether  we 
think  fit  to  receive  the  assertion  or  not  as  a  the- 
ological dogma ;  the  infidel  will  treat  it  with  ut- 
ter derision,  unless,  by  a  direct  establishment  of 
the  alleged  fact,  it  be  made  good  past  all  pos- 
sibility of  contradiction.  For  it  is  to  be  observ- 
ed, that  the  truth  of  this  matter  of  fact  ^  which  is 
maintained  to  be  so  common  as  even  to  be  of 
daily  occurrence,  cannot  be  proved  to  be  an  in- 
fidel from  a  Scripture  which  he  rejects  5  i\or  in- 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         119 

deed  can  it  be  satisfactorily  proved  to  any  one 
siinply  from  Scripture.  The  truth  of  the  present 
alleged  fact^  like  the  truth  of  any  other  alleged 
fact,  must  at  last  be  established  by  positive  evi- 
dence. Thus,  if  the  Bible  asserted  ever  so  une- 
quivocally, that  the  temper  of  the  lion  was  re- 
markably mild  and  gentle ;  as  the  assertion 
would  respect  a  mere  matter  of  fact,  we  could 
not  admit  its  truth  if  it  contradicted  the  evidence 
of  our  senses.  Accordingly,  as  we  deny  the  Po- 
pish miracle  of  Transubstantiation,  because  it 
asserts  a  direct  matter  of  fact  which  our  senses 
contradict :  so  must  we  reject  the  assertion  be- 
fore us,  just  as  we  should  reject  the  assertion 
that  the  lion  is  an  animal  of  a  gentle  temper,  un- 
less the  matter  of  fact,  to  which  it  relates,  can  be 
finally  established  by  the  positive  unvarying  evi- 
dence of  universal  experience.  The  assertion 
itself  we  do  not  hastily  reject,  however  extraor- 
dinary it  may  seem  :  but,  as  it  respects  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  truth  of  which  must  be  proved  or  dis- 
proved like  that  of  any  other  matter  of  fact  j  we 
conceive  ourselves  to  act  with  sobriety  and  pru- 
dence, in  requiring  that  its  veracity  should  be 
demonstrated  to  us  after  the  same  manner  and 
on  the  same  principles  that  the  veracity  of  na- 
ked facts  ordinarily  is  demonstated.* 

*  This  mode  of  reasoning  would  equally  apply  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trvutij^  if  the  Supreme  Being  could  be  subjected 


130  The  Boctrine  of  Regeneration. 

I.  Since  then  the  assertion  before  us  respects, 
not  merely  a  matter  of  opinion^  but  also  a  matter 

to  cognizance  of  our  senses.  But,  as  that  is  impossible,  we 
can  never  affirm,  that  Me  evidence  of  our  senses  contradicts 
the  assertion,  that  God  so  exists,  as  to  be  one  in  this  point  of 
view,  and  three  in  that.  For  Avant  of  attending  to  this  plain 
distinction,  between  the  having  it  in  our  poxver  to  subject  an 
assertion  to  the  evidence  of  our  senses,  and  the  not  having-  it 
in  our  power  to  do  so,  the  Socinians  sometimes  argue  very 
inconclusively  against  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  from  the 
doctrine  of  Transubstantiation.  Can  their  senses  take  cogni- 
zance of  the  nature  of  the  Deity,  as  they  can  take  cognizance 
of  the  nature  of  bread  and  wine  ?  If  such  be  the  case,  their 
argument  is  conclusive  ;  if  not,  not. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  said,  that  a  change  of  mind  does  not 
come  so  directly  under  the  cognizance  of  our  senses  as  a 
change  of  bread  and  tvine  ;  and  consequently  that  I  adduce 
cases  which  are  not  perfectly  parallel. 

This  I  readily  allow  :  but  I  see  not,  how  such  an  acknow- 
ledgment at  all  invalidates  my  argument.  For  the  real 
question  is,  not  xvhether  the  txvo  cases  be  exactly  parallel,  but 
whether  they  do  not  both  come  under  the  cognizance  of  our 
senses.  If  the  soul  of  a  baptized  adult  always  experiences 
in  the  article  of  Baptism  that  radical  change,  which  is  main- 
tained to  be  the  inseparable  attendant  of  that  ordinance; 
the  fact  of  that  change  must  inevitably  come  under  the  cog- 
nizance of  his  senses,  so  that  he  may  be  able  from  his  own  ac- 
tual experience  to  speak  positively  as  to  its  reality.  For  to 
assert,  that  this  great  change  may  take  place  in  the  soul  of  an 
adult  at  the  precise  moment  of  his  Baptism ;  a  change  so 
great,  that  it  is  described  in  the  language  of  inspiration,  as  a 
passage  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  moral  extinction  to 
moral  animation  :  to  assert,  that  such  a  change  may  take 
place  in  the  soul  of  an  adult  at  the  specifically  defined  moment 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         ISl 

of  fact ;  the  discussion  may  properly  begin  with 
an  inquiry,  how  far  this  alleged  matter  of  fact  is 

of  his  Baptism,  and  yet  that  he  may  be  all  the  while  perfectly 
unconscious  of  the  occurrence  of  any  such  fact  ;  to  assert 
this  seems  to  be  about  as  hopeful  a  proposition,  as  to  assert 
the  transmutation  of  the  sacramental  bread  and  wine  into  hu- 
man flesh  and  blood,  while  yet  the  alleged  fact  excites  not  in 
us  the  least  consciousness  of  its  having  happened.  So  far  is 
Holy  Scripture  from  giving  any  countenance  to  such  a  gross 
absurdity,  that  it  no  less  expressly  than  rationally  insists,  that 
the  FACT  of  the  regenerative  change  must  necessarily  be 
known  to  those  in  whose  souls  it  has  occurred.  Hereby  know 
tve^  that  we  dwell  in  him  and  he  in  iis^  because  he  hath  given 
us  of  his  Spirit.  1  John  iv.  13.  We  know  that  we  are  of 
God.  1  John  v.  19.  Know  ye  not  your  own  selves^  how  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  in  you^  except  ye  he  reprobates,  2  Corin.  xiii. 
5.  But,  if  Regeneration  be  a  fact  capable  of  being  known ; 
then  the  reality  of  its  occurrence  must  be  proved,  like  that  of 
any  other  fact,  by  direct  evidence. 

As  the  fact  of  Regeneration  then,  in  the  case  of  him  who 
experiences  it,  is,  according  to  Scripture,  immediately  sub- 
ject to  the  cognizance  of  sense  :  so,  in  the  case  of  others  who 
may  be  viewed  as  bystanders  or  witnesses,  it  is  similarly, 
though  not  in  so  high  a  degree,  subjected  also  to  the  same 
cognizance  of  sense.  We  distinctly  perceive  and  admit  the 
FACT,  that  a  lion  is  ferocious  :  and  we  admit  it  without  hesi- 
tation, because  his  deeds  prove  the  reality  of  it.  Now  Christ 
instructs  us,  precisely  in  the  same  manner,  to  subject  the  fact 
of  Regeneration  in  others  to  the  cognizance  of  our  senses. 
As  the  soul  is  the  principle  of  action,  our  deeds  will  inevit* 
ably  participate  of  the  nature  of  our  soul.  Hence  our  Lord 
well  argues :  T'e  shall  know  them  by  their  fruits.  Do  7nen 
gather  grapes  of  thorns^  or  figs  of  thistles  ?  Even  so  every 
good  tree  hringeth  forth  good  fruit  ;  but  a  corrupt  tree  bring" 

Faher.     17 


1S2  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

supported  in  all  cases  by  actual  experience :  I  say 
all  cases,  because  a  single  exception  will  obvious- 
ly invalidate  a  general  assertion. 

Now,  as  it  appears  to  me,  the  burden  of  proof, 
by  every  rule  of  fair  argument,  rests  with  those 
who  make  the  assertion  ;  not  the  burden  of  dis- 
proof, with  those  who  de?iy  it.  Where  then  is 
the  proof  of  the  matter  of  fact,  with  which  we 
are  concerned  ? 

1.  It  will  probably  be  said,  that  in  the  case  of 
infant  Baptism,  it  is  unreasonable  to  expect  a 
proof  of  concomitant  spiritual  Regeneration,  be- 
cause we  have  no  means  of  positively  ascertain- 
ing what  takes  place  in  the  soul  of  an  infant. 

The  child  is  asserted  to  be  regenerate  on  the 

eth  forth  evil  fruit.  A  good  tree  cannot  (morally  cannot) 
bring  forth  evil  fruit ;  neither  can  a  corrupt  tree  bring  forth 
good  fruit.  Wherefore  by  their  fruits  ye  shall  Ktiow  them. 
Matt.  vii.  16,  17, 18,  20.  And  hence  his  apostle  Paul  argues 
more  at  length  exactly  on  the  same  principle,  when  he  con- 
trasts together  the  works  of  the  Jlesh  or  the  deeds  of  the  unre- 
generate  and  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  or  the  productions  of  the 
regenerate  when  under  a  divine  inflvience.  Galat.  v.  19 — 25. 
If  then  any  one  assert  as  a  fact,  that  Regeneration  inva- 
riably attends  Baptism;  we  have  a  right  to  demand  a  proof 
of  this  FACT  from  direct  evidence,  just  as  we  might  demand  a 
proof  of  any  other  fact.  Insomuch,  with  reverence  be  it 
spoken,  even  if  Scripture  itself  asserted  such  a  fact  (which 
in  truth  it  neither  does  nor  can  do  ;)  we  could  not  admit  the 
reality  of  its  occurrence,  if  universal  experience  proved  that  it 
did  7iot  occur. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         123 

broad  ground,  that  Baptism  is  always  accompa- 
nied by  Regeneration :  and,  if,  what  is  very  or- 
dinarily the  case,  he  exhibit  no  one  evidence  of 
a  spiritual  change  of  heart  as  he  advances  in 
years ;  it  is  then  urged,  that  he  was  doubtless 
regenerated  in  the  article  of  Baptism,  but  that 
he  afterwards  entirely  fell  away  from  his  high 
condition.  Whence,  it  is  contended,  if  he  should 
at  any  future  time  become  a  decidedly  pious 
character ;  this  change  from  a  life  of  wicked- 
ness to  a  life  of  real  godliness  is  not  to  be  es- 
teemed Regeneration,  but  is  to  viewed  only  as  a 
recovery  of  what  had  been  previously  conferred 
in  Baptism. 

S.  I  readily  acknowledge,  that  it  is  unreason- 
able to  expect  a  proof  of  concomitant  spiritual 
Regeneration  in  a  baptized  infant,  because  we 
cannot  question  a  subject  as  to  the  reality  of  the 
great  mental  change  which  he  is  alleged  to  un- 
dergo :  and,  whatever  we  may  think  of  the  pro- 
bability  of  an  hypothesis,  whicii  maintains,  that 
this  change  may  be  so  completely  obliterated 
with  the  infant's  increasing  years,  that  not  a  ves- 
tige or  even  a  recollection  of  it  may  remain,  and 
that  the  infant  himself  shall  at  no  one  period 
have  exhibited  by  his  views  and  actions  the 
least  indication  that  he  has  undergone  the 
change ;  whatever,  I  say,  we  may  think  of  the 
probability  of  this  hypothesis,  we  at  least  cannot 


1S4  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

prove  it  to  be  erroneous  by  referring  to  actual 
experience. 

But  it  is  to  be  remembered,  that  infants  are 
not  the  only  persons  baptized  within  the  pale  of 
Christ's  Church.  That  sound  branch  of  it,  the 
Church  of  England,  has  specially  provided  an 
office  for  the  due  Baptism  of  adults :  and,  as 
these  hav^  attained  to  years  of  discretion,  they 
doubtless  cannot  be  altogether  insensible  to  the 
workings  of  their  own  minds.  Such  subjects 
then  appear  to  be  the  very  persons,  by  whose 
unanimous  testimony  the  alleged  matter  of  fact 
must  be  proved,  if  it  can  be  proved  at  all. 

It  is  asserted,  that  the  spiritual  change  of 
heart  called  Regeneration  invariably  takes  place 
in  the  precise  article  of  Baptism.  If  this  asser- 
tion therefore  be  well  founded,  the  spiritual 
changp  in  question  will  invariably  take  place 
in  every  adult  at  the  identical  moment  when  he 
is  baptized.  That  is  to  say,  at  the  very  instant 
when  the  hand  of  the  priest  brings  his  body  in 
contact  with  baptismal  water ;  at  that  precise  in- 
stant, his  understanding  begins  to  be  illuminat- 
ed, his  will  to  be  reformed,  and  his  affections  to 
be  purified.  Hitherto  he  has  walked  in  dark- 
ness :  but  NOW,  to  use  the  scriptural  phrase,  he 
has  passed  from  darkness  into  light.  Hitherto 
he  has  been  wrapped  in  a  deathlike  sleep  of 
trespasses  and  sins  :  but  now  he  axvakes  and  rises 


The  Doctn7ie  of  Regeneratioti,         125 

from  the  dead,  Christ  himself  giving  him  life. 
Hitherto  he  has  been  a  chaos  of  vice  and  igno- 
rance and  spiritual  confusion  ;  the  natural  man 
receiving  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  for 
they  are  foolishness  unto  him:  but  now  he  is 
created  after  God  in  rigUeousness  and  true  holi- 
ness ;  being  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature  ;  hav- 
ing become  spiritual,  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  are  no  longer  foolishness  unto  him  ;  he  knows 
them,  because  they  are  spiritually  discerned.  Such 
are  the  emphatic  terms,  in  which  Regeneration 
is  described  by  the  sacred  writers :  what  we 
have  to  do  therefore,  I  apprehend,  is  forthwith 
to  inquire,  whether  every  baptized  adult,  with- 
out a  single  exception,  is  invariably  found  to 
declare,  that,  in  the  precise  article  of  Baptism, 
his  soul  experienced  a  change  analagous  to  that 
which  is  so  unequivocally  set  forth  in  the  above- 
cited  texts  of  Scripture. 

The  discussion  in  its  present  stage,  as  I  have 
already  observed,  respects  a  simple  matter  of 
fact :  each  baptized  adult  either  does,  or  does 
NOT,  experience  the  change  in  question :  and  I 
see  not,  how  the  point  can  be  decided,  except  by 
a  formal  appeal  to  his  own  experience.  Can  any 
single  instance  then  be  adduced  (we  have  a  right 
to  demand  the  adduction  oi^ every  instance  wx^/z- 
out  exception ;  but,  to  wave  that  right,)  can  any 
single  instance  be  adduced,  in  which  a  baptized 


126         The  Boctrine  of  Regeneration, 

adult  has  been  known  to  declare,  that,  the  mo- 
ment he  was  sprinkled  with  the  consecrated 
water,  he  perceived  a  new  light  to  dart  into  his 
understanding,  a  new  bias  to  be  given  to  his  will, 
a  new  character  to  be  stamped  upon  his  affec- 
tions ;  that  he  distinctly  found  himself  to  pass 
from  darkness  into  light,  and  from  the  power  of 
Satan  unto  God  ;  that  he  was  sensible,  in  short, 
of  his  altogether  becoming  a  new  creature, 
wholly  different,  so  far  as  spiritual  matters  are 
concerned,  from  the  creature  which  he  has 
hitherto  been  ? 

3.  Here  it  may  possibly  be  said,  that  we  are 
not  too  curiously  to  inquire  into  the  precise 
mode  in  which  the  work  of  Sanctification  com- 
mences, and  that  it  may  have  commenced  in  the 
soul  of  an  adult  at  the  very  moment  of  his  Bap- 
tism, though  he  himself  may  have  been  all  the 
while  insensible  of  the  circumstance. 

Most  readily  do  I  allow,  that  we  are  not  to  in- 
quire too  curiously  into  the  precise  mode  in 
which  Sanctification  commences  ;  and  most 
fully  do  I  concede,  that,  as  it  is  acknowledged  on 
all  hands  to  be  a  progressive  work,  or  (in  the 
language  of  Scrijjture)  a  growth  iji  grace,  the  ab- 
solute beginning  of  it  at  the  moment  of  Regen- 
eration may  be  very  indistinct  to  the  percep- 
tions :  but  this  does  not  remove  the  difficulty  as 
to  the  alleged  matter  of  fact  now  before  us. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.  1S7 

(1.)  If  we  adopt  the  theory,  that  Regenera- 
tion is  not  necessarily  attached  to  Baptism,  but 
that  it  takes  place  at  some  indefinite  period  dur- 
ing the  life  of  a  Christian ;  it  will  be  perfectly 
easy  to  conceive^  that  it  may  have  occurred,  and 
yet  from  its  very  faintness  and  indistinctness 
may  not  have  been  specially  noticed  at  the  time 
when  it  did  occur. 

The  reason  of  this  is  obvious.  The  event 
was  NOT  PREVIOUSLY  EXPECTED  at  thc  prccisc 
moment  when  it  really  took  place  :  and,  as  God's 
Holy  Spirit  acts  through  the  medium  of  our  ra- 
tional faculties;  though  the  subject  of  Kegen* 
eration  would  distinctly  perceive,  that  he  now 
viewed  rehgion  differently  from  what  he  viewed 
it  before,  that  his  will  was  now  strongly  inclined 
to  attend  to  it,  and  that  his  affections  were  now 
stirred  up  in  a  lively  gratitude  towards  his  gra- 
cious Creator  and  Benefactor;  he  would  still 
not  be  at  all  aware,  that  it  was  any  particular 
agency  of  the  Sanctifier  upon  his  mind.  He 
would  be  apt  to  attribute  it,  either  to  the  book 
which  he  had  been  reading,  or  to  the  conversa- 
tion in  which  he  had  been  engaged,  or  to  that 
inexplicable  spontaneous  working  of  the  human 
soul  of  which  all  must  at  different  times  have 
been  conscious ;  and,  as  such,  it  would  never 
occur  to  him  to  note  down  the  precise  momeiity 
when  he  had  made  what  would  only  appear  to 


123         Tlie  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

him  a  somewhat  stronger  resolution  than  ordi- 
nary of  paying  a  proper  attention  to  rehgion. 
Hence,  of  course,  as  he  gradually  increased  in 
divine  knowledge  and  holy  inclinations  and  de- 
vout affections,  he  would  perceive  himself  to  be 
a  totally  altered  man  from  what  he  well  remem- 
bers that  he  once  was ;  but,  if  he  were  to  be 
asked  the  identical  moment  when  the  change 
commenced,  he  would  be  unable  to  specify  it. 

And  this  I  take  to  be  the  general  case  of  those, 
who  have  indeed  been  born  of  the  Spirit :  one 
thing  I  k?iow,  that,  whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I 
see, 

(2.)  But  there  is  a  most  material  difference 
between  Regeneration  thus  taking  place,  and  the 
alleged  matter  of  fact  which  is  now  under  con- 
sideration. 

We  see,  that,  according  to  the  theory  by  which 
Regeneration  is  not  inseparably  tied  to  Baptism, 
whenever  it  occurs,  it  occurs  unexpectedly  : 
while,  according  to  the  opposite  theory,  when- 
ever an  adult  is  baptized,  if  his  Regeneration 
takes  place  at  all  in  the  article  of  Baptism,  it 
takes  place  expectedly. 

The  divine,  who  holds  that  Baptism  and  Re- 
generation are  inseparable,  will  obviously,  in  his 
preparatory  instructions  to  the  catechumen,  ^rsf 
teach  him,  that  the  solemn  initiatory  rite,  of 
which  he  desires  to  be  a  partaker,  is  the  outward 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,  1S9 

visible  sign  of  the  inward  visible  grace  of  Regen- 
eration: next  he  will  explain  to  him,  that  the 
inward  spiritual  grace,  typified  by  Baptism,  is  a 
death  unto  siji,  and  a  new  birth  unto  righteous- 
ness ;  adding,  that  by  this  new  birth  is  meant  a 
total  and  radical  change  in  the  condition  of  the 
soul,  so  that  theij^  who  are  by  nature  born  in  sin 
and  the  children  of  wrath,  are  hereby  made  the 
children  of  grace,  or,  as  the  Anglican  Church 
elsewhere  expresses  this  great  spiritual  change, 
they  are  regenerated  and  as  it  were  brought  forth 
anew  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  so  that  they  shall  be  no- 
thing  like  the  men  they  were  before  .-*  lastly  he 
will  assure  him,  that,  although  Baptism  is  indeed 
the  outward  sign  of  Regeneration,  the  two  are 
so  indissolubly  united  together,  that,  whenever 
Baptism  is  duly  administered,  the  subject  of  it 
will  infaUibly  at  the  same  time  experience  the 
inward  grace  of  Regeneration  as  it  is  most  accu- 
rately described  in  the  public  documents  of  the 
Church  of  England  on  the  sure  authority  of 
Scripture. 

Now  it  is  manifest,  that,  after  such  instruc- 
tions as  these,  the  adult  catechumen  cannot  but 
EXPECT  to  find  a  most  important  change  take 
place  in  the  spiritual  condition  of  his  mind,  at 
the  precise  moment  when  the  officiating  priest 

*  Homil.  for  Whitsunday,  part  i.  p.  390.  Oxon. 

Faber,       18 


130         The  DoctHne  of  Regeneration, 

sprinkles  upon  him  the  water  of  Baptism.  He 
will  EXPECT  it,  because  he  has  been  carefully 
taught^  that  the  sign  and  the  thing  signified  are 
inseparahly  connected  together,  that  he  must 
look  for  his  Regeneration  in  the  very  article  of 
Baptism,  and  that  it  is  wholly  nugatory  to  im- 
agine that  any  Regeneration  takes  place  at  some 
indefinite  time  subsequent  to  the  due  administra- 
tion of  the  outward  rite.  He  will  not  indeed 
suppose,  that  the  work  of  Sanctification  is  com- 
pleted in  his  soul  in  the  same  instant  that  the 
water  touches  his  body ;  because  he  will  doubt- 
less have  been  rightly  taught,  that  it  is  progres- 
sive in  its  nature  :  but  he  must  expect,  agree- 
ably to  the  tenor  of  his  instructions,  that  it  com- 
me?ices  at  that  identical  instant ;  and,  if  it  then 
commences,  the  man  all  the  while  expecting 
fully  the  commencement  of  it,  he  must  surely 
be  jnost  distinctly  sensible  of  such  a  commence- 
ment. 

For  nothing  but  the  most  determined  creduli- 
ty of  the  most  inveterate  system-framer  can 
venture  to  maintain  the  strange  opinion,  that,  at  a 
particular  previously  specified  moment,  a  change 
takes  place  in  the  soul  of  an  adult  so  great,  that 
(in  the  language  of  our  Church)  he  is  nothing 
like  the  man  that  he  was  immediately  before  ;  that 
the  adult  himself  is  in  full  expectation  of  this 
radical  change,   when  it  does  take  place  j  and 


The  Doctrine  ofRegen  eration.  131 

yet,  though  he  becomes  by  it  nothing  like  the  man 
he  was  before,  so  hnperceptible  is  the  change  by 
which  this  mighty  renovation  is  effected,  that  he 
is  quite  insensible  of  any  pecuUar  working  of  his 
mind,  and  can  detect  nothing  worthy  of  note 
save  the  general  purposes  of  a  holy  life  which 
have  recurred  to  him  perhaps  a  hundred  times 
while  attending  to  the  preparatory  instructions 
of  his  pastor.  He,  who  can  believe  this,  may 
well  beheve  also,  that  in  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  the  bread  and  wine  are  literally 
transmuted  into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ, 
though  such  a  transmutation  stands  contradicted 
as  a  matter  of  fact  by  the  direct  evidence  of  the 
senses. 

4.  Thus  we  may  venture  to  assert,  that,  if 
spiritual  Regeneration  universally  takes  place  at 
the  Baptism  of  every  adult  catechumen ;  it  must 
also  universally,  as  being  previously  expect- 
ed, be  SENSIBLY  PERCEIVED  by  cvcry  baptized 
adult.  Nor  can  he  ever  hereafter  forget,  and 
thus  not  be  able  distinctly  to  specify,  the  pre- 
cise moment  when  his  Regeneration  took  place  ; 
as  may  easily,  or  rather  indeed  must  generally, 
be  the  case  with  regenerate  Christians  accord- 
ing to  the  other  theory  for  reasons  which  have 
already  been  amply  set  forth  :  because  he  never 
can  forget  the  day  when  he  was  baptized  ;  be- 
cause he  can  never  cease  to  recollect  that  pecuhar 


13S         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

conversion  of  his  mind,  by  which  he  instanta- 
neously found  himself  nothing  like  the  man  he 
was  before  ;  and  because,  on  the  very  princi- 
ples of  his  preparatory  instruction  conducted  as 
the  theory  now  before  us  requires  it  to  be  con- 
ducted, he  can  never  mistake  for  a  transient 
good  resolution  of  his  own  soul  a  radical  change  of 
heart  which  he  has  been  authoritatively  taught  to 
view  as  the  inseparable  concomitant  of  Baptism. 
5.  On  these  grounds,  since  the  whole  ques- 
tion in  its  present  stage  respects  a  matter  of  fact ; 
we  have  a  right  to  demand  a  proof  of  that  fact 
from  positive  universal  experience  in  the  case 
of  baptized  adults,  ere  we  assent  to  the  reality 
of  its  occurrence.  If  the  matter  be  notorious, 
the  proof  will  be  easily  procured  :  meanwhile 
let  it  be  remembered,  that  the  assertion  is  hroacl 
and  universal,  and  consequently  that  it  will  be 
invalidated  even  by  a  single  exceptioji.  The 
theory  maintains,  that  Regeneration  always  ac- 
companies Baptism  :  hence  it  is  plain,  that  even 
ONE  exception,  if  any  such  can  be  produced, 
must  needs  overturn  it. 

II.  Leaving  the  advocates  of  this  theory  to  es- 
tablish, as  best  they  may,  the  matter  of  fact 
which  they  allege ;  I  proceed  to  notice  some 
very  extraordinary  conclusions,  both  positive 
and  negative,  which,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  neces- 
sarily spring  from  it. 


The  Doctnne  of  Regeneration.         133 

1.  I  shall  begin  with  pointing  out  the  positive 
conclusions  to  which  I  allude. 

Regeneration,  it  is  allowed  on  all  hands,  places 
a  man  in  a  state  of  salvation  ;  for  such  is  the 
necessary  inference  to  be  drawn,  both  from  the 
words  of  our  Lord,  and  from  every  passage  of 
Scripture  in  which  it  is  treated  of  or  alluded  to. 
If  no  man  can  see  the  kingdom  of  God,  except 
he  be  born  again;  then,  provided  he  be  born 
again,  he  will  see  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  and,  in 
like  manner,  if  no  man  can  see  the  Lord  with- 
out Holiness,  of  which  Regeneration  is  the  com- 
mencing point  ;  then,  with  Holiness,  he  plain- 
ly will  see  the  Lord.  Now,  by  the  theory,  Re- 
generation is  always  communicated  at  Baptism. 
Hence  it  will  follow,  that  Baptism,  always  com- 
municating Regeneration,  always  places  the  per- 
son baptized  in  a  state  of  salvation.  So  that,  as 
every  baptized  person  is  ipso  facto  placed  in  a 
state  of  salvation  ;  every  baptized  person,  who 
dies  immediately  after  the  rite  has  been  admin- 
istered to  him  and  therefore  forfeits  not  his  priv- 
ilege by  lapsing  into  mortal  sin,  is  infallibly  sure 
of  entering  into  the  kingdom. 

(1.)  Now,  under  this  view  of  the  subject, 
every  prudent  parent,  who  espouses  the  theo- 
ry before  us,  will  carefully  refrain  from  having 
his  child  baptized  during  its  infancy ;  because, 
by  deferring  the  rite,  he  may  almost  ensure  the 


134!         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

salvation  of  his  offspring  :  and,  on  the  same 
ground,  every  adult,  who  is  converted  from  Pa- 
ganism to  Christianity,  would  do  well  to  put  off 
his  Baptism  and  reserve  it  as  a  sure  viaticum  in 
his  last  extremity.  By  such  an  arrangement  the 
pleasures  of  sin  may  be  freely  tasted  with  very 
inconsiderable  danger  to  him  who  adopts  it.  No 
man  indeed  can  absolutely  guard  against  sudden 
death :  but,  in  ordinary  cases,  he  may  have  wal- 
lowed during  his  whole  life  with  perfect  safety 
and  impunity  in  every  abomination,  provided 
only  he  takes  care  to  be  duly  baptized  when  his 
last  great  enemy  is  approaching. 

Nor  let  it  be  said,  that  this  is  a  strained  and 
imaginai^y  case  :  it  is  a  case,  that  has  actually 
occurred  more  than  once.  The  theory,  with  its 
sufficiently  obvious  conclusion,  had  become  fa- 
shionable, during  the  fourth  century,  in  a  rapid- 
ly degenerating  Church.  From  his  earliest  con- 
version to  the  last  period  of  his  life,  the  empe- 
ror Constantine,  whose  zeal  for  the  establish- 
ment of  Christianity  is  much  less  equivocal  than 
his  piety,  remained  in  the  state  of  a  catechu- 
men ;  and  was  not  received  by  Baptism  into  the 
number  of  the  faithful  until  a  few  days  before 
his  death,  when  that  sacred  rite  was  administer- 
ed to  him  at  Nicomedia  by  Eusebius  its  bishop. 
This  action,  we  are  told,  was  agreeable  to  the 
ordinary  practice  of  the  times :  and  we  have  the 


TIw  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.        135 

ground  of  such  a  practice  set  forth  to  us  very 
explicitly.  It  was  a  custom  with  many,  in  that 
century,  to  put  off  their  Baptism  to  the  last  hour  ; 
that  thus,  immediately  after  receiving  by  this  rite 
the  remission  of  their  sins,  they  might  ascend  pure 
and  spotless  to  the  mansions  of  life  and  immortal- 
ity * 

The  practice  clearly  emanated  from  the  very 
theory  now  under  consideration :  it  will  be  dif- 
ficult to  prove,  that  the  opinion  respecting  the 
safety  and  utility  of  such  a  practice  was  not  le- 
gitimately deduced  from  the  received  premises. 
For,  if  we  admit  the  theory,  what  are  we  to  be- 
lieve concerning  the  final  doom  of  those  who 
thus  partook  of  a  death-bed  Baptism  ?  We  may 
style  their  conduct  sinful  and  presumptuous  as 
long  as  we  please,  and  we  shall  designate  it  no 
doubt  by  strictly  appropriate  appellations :  but 
we  shall  not  thus  extricate  ourselves  from  the 
difficulty.  Bad  as  their  conduct  may  be,  still 
worse  as  their  previous  lives  may  have  been ; 
yet,  if  Regeneration  universally  accompanies 
Baptism,  the  persons  thus  tardily  baptized  were 
assuredly  regenerate  ;  and,  if  assuredly  regener- 
ate, they  were  in  a  state  of  salvation  ;  and,  if  in 
a  state  of  salvation,  as  their  death  immediately 

*  Mosheim's  Eccles.  Hist.  Cent,  iv.  part  i.  c.  I.  §  8. 


136  The  Bodrine  of  Regeneration. 

followed  their  Baptism,  they  must  all  have  been 
saved, 

I  see  only  one  mode  of  escape  from  this  very 
extraordinary  conclusion  ;  even  though  the  case 
should  be  adduced  of  some  hardened  profligate, 
who  solicited  and  received  the  rite  of  Baptism 
merely  through  fear  of  perdition.  The  mode 
is  this :  to  maintain,  that  the  man  was  indeed 
truly  regenerated  in  the  article  of  Baptism  ;  but 
that  immediately  afterivards,  ere  death  could 
seize  its  already  sinking  prey,  he  relapsed  into 
mortal  sin,  and  thus  forfeited  the  privilege 
which  he  had  so  recently  gained. 

But  who  would  seriously  attempt  to  disentan- 
gle himself  by  so  miserable  a  subterfuge  ?  Or, 
at  any  rate,  who  could  soberly  admit,  that  he 
had  successfully  accomplished  his  escape  by  such 
an  expedient  ?  The  question  is  plainly  reduci- 
ble to  the  following  dilemma. 

Either  each  person,  thus  baptized,  was  conse- 
quently regenerated  ;  in  which  case,  he  was  re- 
ceived into  heaven,  no  matter  what  his  former 
life  had  been,  and  even  though  he  approached  the 
baptismal  font  in  the  very  act  of  deliberate  pre- 
sumptuous regularly-planned  hypocrisy :  or  each 
person,  thus  baptized,  was  not  consequently  re- 
generated ;  in  which  case,  the  theory,  that  Bap- 
tism and  Regeneration  are  inseparable^  must  be 
given  up  as  altogether  untenable. 


The  Doctrine  of  Rege?ieration.         1S7 

(2.)  The  same  train  of  reasoning  will  equally 
apply  to  the  case  of  a  Pagan,  who  should  be 
baptized  at  the  point  of  death,  wholly  uncon- 
scious of  the  nature  of  the  rite,  and  altogether 
either  ignorant  of  the  name  of  Christ  or  having 
previously  rejected  him. 

Now,  if  such  a  man  has  been  duly  baptized, 
what  are  we  to  think  of  his  condition  ?  Is  he 
regenerate,  or  is  he  not  regenerate  ?  If  the  for- 
mer, his  Regeneration  forthwith  carries  him  to 
heaven,  though  in  his  life-time  he  may  have 
been  a  pertinacious  blasphemer  and  opposcr  of 
the  word  :  if  the  latter,  then  Baptism  and  Regen- 
eration are  not  necessarily  inseparable. 

A  case  like  this  is  not  quite  an  imaginary 
one  ;  though  I  see  not,  why  we  should  not  have 
a  right  to  propose  a  possible  case  that  was  whol- 
ly imaginary.  I  have  heard  of  something  simi- 
lar  to  it  occurrmg  in  the  labours  of  the  Popish 
missionaries:  I  speak  however  only  from  re- 
collection, and  cannot  at  present  produce  my 
authority. 

2.  The  negative  conclusions,  which  may  be 
deduced  from  the  theory  now  before  us,  are  not 
less  extraordinary  than  ih.^  positive  one^. 

As  Baptism  and  Regeneration  are  pronounced 
to  be  ijiseparable,  the  inward  grace  always  ac- 
companying the  outward  sign :  it  will  inevitably 
follow,  that,  wliere  Baptism  is,  there  is  Regen- 

Faber,       49 


138         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

eration  also  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  where 
Baptism  is  not^  there  hkewise  Regeneration  is 
not.  That  is  to  say,  as  all  the  baptized  are  ipso 
facto  regenerate,  so  all  the  unbaptized  are  ipso 
facto  unregenerate.  But  the  unregenerate,  both 
according  to  the  express  assertion  of  our  Lord 
and  also  in  the  very  nature  of  things  themselves, 
cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  For 
Regeneration  is  the  commencing  point  of  Sanc- 
tification :  whence,  as  none  can  see  God  with- 
out holiness,  so  of  course  no  fallen  creature  can 
see  God  without  having  hegiin  to  be  holy.*  But, 
agreeably  to  the  theory,  all  the  unbaptized  are 
unregenerate.  Therefore  all  the  unbaptized  are 
ipso  facto  excluded  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

Such  is  the  grand  general  conclusion  from  the 
theory,  which  we  are  considering  ;  JS'o  unbap- 
tized person  can  possibly  be  saved :  and,  as  might 
easily  be  anticipated,  it  branches  out  into  various 
I'amifications  equally  portentous  with  the  parent 
stock. 

(1.)  Thus  every  individual  Pagan,  whether 
young  or  old,  whether  he  has  heard  of  the  name 
of  Christ  or  has  not  heard  of  it,  in  whatever  age 
and  in  whatever  country  he  may  have  lived,  is 
consigned  at  once  to  irremediable  perdition: 

*  See  this  point  fully  discussed  in  Sermon  IV. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         139 

for  the  man  has  not  been  baptized ;  therefore 
he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

I  stop  not  to  discuss  the  very  awful  and  diiii- 
cult  subject  of  the  final  condition  of  the  virtuous 
heathens  :  such  a  discussion  were  here  manifest- 
ly out  of  place :  it  is  sufficient  for  me  to  ob- 
serve, that  the  question  is  at  once  decided,  with- 
out the  least  hesitation,  by  the  undaunted  theo- 
ry before  us.*     According  to  a  necessary  con- 

*  Assuredly  no  pagan  can  see  God  without  Regeneration  ; 
because  Regeneration  is  the  commencement  of  Holiness,  and 
-without  Holiness  no  man  shall  (or  even  can)  see  the  Lord: 
but  this  does  not  necessarilij  involve  the  eternal  destruction 
of  the  whole  gentile  world. 

When  we  consider  the  tender  loving  mercies  of  our  God, 
who  is  no  hard  master  expecting  to  reap  where  he  sowed  not 
and  to  gather  where  he  had  not  strawed  (as  the  wicked  ser- 
vant in  the  parable  sought  to  misrepresent  him ;)  and  when 
we  recollect  the  strenuous  wish  expressed  by  some  of  the  bet- 
ter heathens  for  a  divine  instructor,  who  might  dispel  the  im- 
penetrable darkness  with  which  they  felt  themselves  surround- 
ed :  we  may  not  unreasonably  perhaps  venture  to  hope,  that, 
in  numerous  instances,  that  radical  change  of  heart,  which  is 
so  essential  to  an  admission  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  may 
have  been  effected  by  the  Holy  Spirit  even  in  the  article  of 
death ;  and  that  so,  even  at  the  eleventh  hour,  they  may  have 
been  called  into  the  mystical  vineyard  of  the  Lord.  In  this 
case,  the  ground  of  their  justification  would  still  be  the  same 
as  our  own.  The  all-sufficient  merits  of  the  Redeemer  would 
be  the  meritorious  cause  of  their  salvation  :  for,  as  it  is  sound- 
ly urged  in  the  18th  Article  of  the  English  Church,  they 
would  not  be  saved  by  the  law  or  sect  xvhich  they  professed^ 
on  the  score  of  their  having  been  diligent  to  frame  their  lives 


i4i0         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration* 

elusion  from  that  theory,  not  a  pagan  can  he 
saved.  Hence  the  Romanists,  who  advocate  it 
with  no  less  steadiness  than  the  doctrine  of 
Transubstantiatinn,  have  ever  duly  and  consist- 
ently maintained,  that  the  whole  pagan  world 
will  infaUibly  be  consigned  to  eternal  damnation. 

Their  conclusion  is  doubtless  drawn  with  the 
strictest  logical  precision  from  their  premises  : 
nor  can  any  one,  who  holds  the  premises,  shrink 
from  it,  without  virtually  acknowledging  the 
premises  themselves  to  be  unsound. 

(3.)  Thus  again,  on  the  same  principles, 
every  individual  Mohammedan,  whether  he  has 
had  an  opportunity  of  receiving  the  Gospel  or 
not,  stands  in  a  similar  predicament. 

He  has  not  been  baptized :  whence  the  ulti- 
mate conclusion  is,  that  he  cannot  be  saved. 

(3.)  Such  also,  according  to  the  present  the- 
ory, is  the  opinion  which  we  are  bound  to  main- 
tain of  all  children,  who,  though  born  of  Christ- 

according  to  that  law  and  the  light  of  nature  ;  but  only  by  the 
name  of  fesus  Christy  whereby  men  must  be  saved. 

What  I  have  here  stated  is  purely  hypothetical,  for  Scripture 
has  left  us  very  much  in  the  dark  on  this  subject  :  but  the 
theory,  with  which  we  are  now  concerned,  settles  the  matter 
without  any  difficulty  by  a  single  syllogism.  None  can  be 
saved  but  the  regenerate:  the  pagans  however  were  clearly 
not  baptized :  therefore  they  zvere  not  regenerated ;  therefore 
theu  cannot  be  saved. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,        141 

ian  parents,  die  unbaptized  j  of  all  Quakers ; 
and  of  all  Jews. 

(4.)  As  for  the  last  of  these,  since  their  de- 
termined rejection  of  God's  remedy  for  sin, 
many  perhaps  would  not  be  disposed  to  urge 
much  in  their  favour  :  but  unfortunately  the  ar- 
gument does  not  stop  with  them ;  it  equally  ex- 
tends to  all  their  ancestors  previous  to  the  ad- 
vent of  Christ.  Not  one  of  these  was  baptized  j 
save  latterly  according  to  the  mere  human  in- 
stitution of  the  Jewish  baptism,  to  which  of 
course  no  efficacy  can  possibly  be  ascribed  any 
more  than  to  the  various  baptisms  of  the  pagan 
Mysteries  :  not  one  of  these  was  baptized ;  not 
one  of  them  therefore  was  regenerated;  and 
consequently  not  one  of  them  was  saved,  Da- 
vid, Samuel,  Josiah,  Isaiah,  Hezekiah,  were  all 
involved  in  the  same  fate  and  for  the  same  rea- 
son. The  principle  is  universal :  its  application 
therefore  must  be  U7iiversal\\^ey^\^e ;  otherwise 
we  at  once  give  up  the  principle  itself. 

To  this  it  may  be  replied,  that  circumcision 
in  the  Levitical  Church  is  analogous  to  Baptism 
in  the  Christian  Church.  Whence  it  would  fol- 
low, that,  as  all  the  baptized  are  regenerated  in 
the  one,  so  all  the  circumcised  are  regenerated 
in  the  other.  The  circumcised  therefore  were 
universally  brought  into  a  state  of  holiness  and 


143         The  I)octriiieof  Regeneration, 

thence  into  a  capability  of  salvation,  no  less  than 
the  baptized. 

It  is  indeed  abundantly  manifest,  that  Circum- 
cision in  the  Levitical  Church  corresponds  with 
Baptism  in  the  Christian :  yet  such  an  answer, 
when  thoroughly  sifted,  will  be  found,  I  fear,  to 
make  confusion  only  tenfold  worse  confounded. 

In  the  first  place,  if  Circumcision  in  the  Jew- 
ish Church  miiversallif  coijiferred  Regeneration, 
as  Baptism   in  the  Christian  Church  has  been 
roundly  asserted  to  do  ;  then  it  were  plainly 
superfluous  and  nugatory  to  baptize  any  circiim' 
cised  person :  for  the  man  was  already  regener- 
ate by  Circumcision  ;  and  therefore  could  not 
be  again  made  regenerate  by  Baptism.     How 
then  are  we  to  account  for  the  circumstance, 
that,  when  our  Lord  instituted  the  sacrament  of 
Baptism,  he  himself  baptized  all  his  circumcised 
converts,  and  that  he   left  a  general  injunction 
to  his  apostles  to  baptize  all  proselytes  without 
distinction  whetlier  Jews  or  Gentiles  ?     He,  we 
may  be  sure,  would  do  nothing  but  what  was 
consonant  to  the  dictates  of  eternal  wisdom. 
Yet,  if  all  his  Jewish  converts  were  already  rege- 
nerated because  they  had  been  duly  circumcised, 
it  is  hard  to  say,  according  to   the  present  hy- 
pothesis, why  they  should  be  additionally  requir- 
ed to  undergo  the  rite  of  Baptism.     We  may 
easily  conceive,  that  Christ,  for  wise  reasons, 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         143 

might  think  fit  to  change  the  outward  visible 
sign  of  Regeneration :  but,  in  that  case,  they, 
who  had  been  previously  regenerated  by  recep- 
tion of  the  Levitical  sign,  could  plainly  have  no 
need  to  receive  the  Christian  sign.  To  the  con- 
verted Gentiles  it  would  indeed  be  necessary  : 
but  to  the  converted  Jews  it  could  certainly  be 
no  more  in  effect  than  the  mere  bootless  repeti- 
tion of  the  appointed  outward  sign  of  Regenera- 
tion. The  latter,  according  to  the  supposed 
answer,  w;ere  already  regenerated  ;  hence  they 
clearly  could  not  be  a  second  time  regenerated 
by  Baptism, 

In  the  second  place,  even  if  we  allow  for  a 
moment  that  Circumcision  bestowed  Regenera- 
tion under  the  Law  as  Baptism  has  been  said  to 
bestow  it  under  the  Gospel,  we  shall  still  gain 
nothing  more  than  a  short  removal  of  the  diffi- 
culty. If  Circumcision  and  Baptism  be  equally 
signs  of  Regeneration,  and  if  they  both  equally 
confer  the  thing  signified  when  they  are  duly  ad- 
ministered :  then  none  can  be  regenerated,  and 
therefore  none  can  be  saved,  except  those,  who 
either  have  been  circumcised  under  the  Law  be- 
fore the  advent  of  Christ,  or  have  been  baptized 
under  the  Gospel  after  his  advent.  Now  Cir- 
cumcision was  first  instituted  in  the  days  of 
Abraham,  and  Baptism  was  first  divinely  enjoin- 
ed by  Christ.     Previous  therefore  to  the  days  of 


144  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

Abraham  there  ^vas  neither  Circumcision  nor 
Baptism :  at  least  neither  rite  existed  before  that 
time,  so  far  as  we  can  learn  from  Scripture,  as 
a  divine  and  positive  ordinance.  Hence  it  will 
follow,  if  the  inward  grace  of  Regeneration  be 
inseparable  from  its  outward  sign,  that  not  a  sin- 
gle person  was  regenerated  before  the  time  of 
Abraham,  and  consequently  that  not  a  single 
person  could  have  been  saved.  The  old  fathers 
might  have  eagerly  looked  forward  to  the  mani- 
festation of  the  promised  seed ;  Noah,  in  some 
inexpHcable  sense  of  the  words,  might  have  been 
a  just  man  and  perfect  in  his  generations  ;  Abel, 
in  an  equally  inexplicable  sense  of  the  term, 
might  have  been  called  righteous  even  by  Christ 
himself :  but  all  this  would  avail  them  nothing 
according  to  the  present  theory  :  not  one  of 
them  was  either  baptized  or  circumcised;  there- 
fore not  one  of  them  was  regenerated ;  there- 
fore not  one  of  them  could  have  been  admitted 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Common  sense 
does  indeed  teach  us,  that  they  were  admitted 
into  heaven :  but  what  then  becomes  of  a  theo- 
ry, which  inseparably  ties  Regeneration  to  Bap- 
tism ? 

(5.)  There  is  yet  another  class  of  persons  too 
remarkable  to  be  passed  over  in  silence,  who  are 
equally  involved  in  the  conclusion  necessarily 
drawn  from  the  present  theory. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.        140 

In  the  primitive  Church,  during  a  period  of 
horrible  persecution,  it  not  unfrequently  hap- 
pened, that  a  devout  catechumen  was  dragged 
to  the  stake  and  barbarously  put  to  death,  ere 
he  had  partaken  of  the  initiatory  rite  of  Bap- 
tism :  and  there  are  cases  upon  record  of  pagans 
being  suddenly  converted  to  Christianity,  by 
merely  witnessing  the  constancy  of  the  mar- 
tyred faithful ;  who,  instantly  under  the  first  im- 
pulse of  zeal  professing  their  belief,  were  forth- 
with led  to  slaughter  themselves.  Now  what 
must  we  suppose  to  be  the  final  condition  of 
these  pious  men?  Were  they  saved,  or  were 
they  not  saved?  They  certainly  were  never 
baptized  :  therefore,  if  Baptism  and  Regenera- 
tion be  inseparable^  they  were  never  regenerat- 
ed. But,  if  they  never  w^ere  regenerated,  then 
they  cannot  have  entered  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  :  for  without  holiness  no  man  shall  see 
the  Lord  ;  and  Regeneration  is  the  commencing 
point  of  hohness.  Yet  this  conclusion  is  evi- 
dently too  absurd  to  be  admitted  for  a  single 
moment  :  no  reasonable  man  can  doubt  of  the 
salvation  of  such  persons.  If  then  they  obtained 
salvation,  they  must  have  been  previously  re- 
generated: because  it  is  a  scripturally  deter- 
mined point,  that  without  Regeneration  and  con- 
secutive Holiness  no  man  possibly  can  be  saved. 

But,  if  they  were  previously  regenerated,  then 
Faber,  ^0 


146         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

they  must  have  been  regenerated  without  hav- 
ing been  baptized.  How  are  we  to  extricate 
ourselves  from  this  difficulty  ? 

An  attempt  has  been  made  :  with  what  suc- 
cess, remains  to  be  considered.  I  have  already 
observed,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  inseparable 
union  of  Baptism  and  Regeneration  early  crept 
into  the  Church :  hence  the  remarkable  case  be- 
fore us  could  not  fail  of  attracting  attention.  It 
was  clearly  seen,  that  the  salvation  of  such  mar- 
tyrs could  not  be  reasonably  doubted :  it  was  at 
the  same  time  acknowledged,  that  none  could 
be  saved  without  Regeneration.  But  the  men 
had  never  been  baptized :  how  then,  upon  the 
principle  of  inseparability,  could  they  have  been 
born  again ;  and  how,  without  having  been  born 
again,  could  they  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  ?  It  was  answered,  that  they  had  been 
baptized  in  their  own  blood,  and  consequently 
that  they  had  been  regenerated  in  the  very  arti- 
cle of  martyrdom. 

Now,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  such  a  solution, 
though  no  doubt  abundantly  ingenious,  is  neither 
more  nor  less  than  a  complete  giving  up  of  the 
question.  For  what  is  this  baptism  of  blood, 
which  is  here  adduced  to  solve  a  difficulty? 
Was  any  such  baptism  ever  instituted  by  Christ  ? 
Did  he  ever  connect  it,  either  symbolically  or 
casually,  with  spiritual  Regeneration  ?     Scrip- 


Tlie  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.  147 

ture  acknowledges  no  such  ordinance.  The 
pagans  indeed  had  their  initiatory  Crioboha  and 
Taurobolia :  but  the  Gospel  recognizes  no  ini- 
tiatory Anthropobolium.  The  simple  fact  is, 
that  the  men  were  never  baptized  at  all  :  yet 
they  were  rightly  pronounced  to  have  been 
saved  ;  and  were  thence  necessarily  confessed 
to  have  been  regenerated.  I  need  scarcely 
draw  the  obvious  conclusion  from  such  premi- 
ses. 

III.  Having  now  sufficiently  pointed  out  the 
inferences  both  positive  and  negative^  which  must 
inevitably  be  drawn  from  the  theory  that  Bap- 
tism and  Regeneration  are  always  insepara- 
ble ;  I  shall  proceed  to  inquire,  how  far  this  the- 
ory is  supported  or  not  supported  by  Analogy. 

Our  divine  Master  has  been  pleased  to  insti- 
tute two  sacraments  in  his  Church,  Baptism  and 
the  Lord's  Supper.  Now  the  generic  charac- 
ter of  a  sacrament  is,  that  it  consists  of  two 
parts  ;  a  certain  outward  visible  sign,  and  a  cer- 
tain inward  spiritual  grace.  Each  therefore  of 
the  sacraments  has  its  own  two  proper  parts, 
mutually  corresponding  with  each  other ;  visible 
with  visible,  invisible  with  invisible.  In  Bap- 
tism, the  outward  visible  sign  is  water  ;  and  the 
inward  spiritual  grace,  or  the  things  symbolical- 
ly represented,  is  Regeneration  :  while,  in  the 
Lord's  Supper,   after  a  manner  strictly  analogi- 


148  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

cal,  the  outward  visible  sign  is  the  bread  and 
wine  ;  and  the  inward  part,  or  the  thing  sym- 
boUcally  represented,  is  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  verily  indeed  yet  spiritually  received  for 
the  sustenance  and  refreshing  of  the  soul.  Here 
we  may  observe,  that  in  each  sacrament  like 
answers  to  like  with  perfect  accuracy :  for  they 
both  equally  relate  to  something  inward,  sha- 
dowed out  or  symbolized  by  something  outward. 
Such  being  the  case,  it  seems  only  natural  to 
conclude,  unless  indeed  we  have  some  very 
strong  evidence  to  the  contrary,  that,  as  the 
Analogy  between  the  two  sacraments  is  perfect 
thus  far,  it  would  also  be  perfect  throughout. 
Each  sacrament,  we  have  seen,  has  two  parts,  an 
outward  and  an  inward  :  and  each  outward  part 
is  symbolical  of  the  corresponding  inward  part. 
If  then  the  outward  part  in  one  sacrament  is  not 
only  symbolical  of  the  corresponding  inward 
part,  but  likewise  inseparably  associated  with  it ; 
so  that  where  the  former  exists  the  latter  also 
exists,  and  where  the  former  does  not  exist  the 
latter  also  does  not  exist :  it  appears  but  reason- 
able to  argue  from  Analogy,  that  this  is  equally 
the  case  with  the  two  parts  in  the  other  sacrament. 
And,  inversely,  if  the  outward  part  in  one  sacra- 
ment, though  doubtless  symbohcalofthe  corres- 
ponding hiward  part,  is  yet  not  inseparably  associa- 
ted withit  5  so  that  the  former  may  exist,  while  the 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         149 

latter  is  absent :  it  again  appears  but  reasonable 
to  argue  from  Analogy,  that  the  two  parts  also 
in  the  other  sacrament  are  similarly  circum- 
stanced. This  at  least  is  abundantly  manifest, 
that,  if  they  be  not  similarly  circumstanced,  the 
Analogy  between  the  two  sacraments  stops  at 
one  particula«|Joint  and  is  not  perfect  through^ 
out. 

On  these  grounds,  they,  who  maintain  the 
universal  inseparability  of  the  two  parts  in  Bap- 
tism, ought,  would  they  be  consistent,  to  main- 
tain the  universal  inseparability  of  the  two  parts 
in  the  Lord's  Supper :  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
they,  who  deny  the  first  proposition,  ought  equal- 
ly, would  they  be  consistent,  to  deny  the  other 
also.  Of  this  the  Romanists  seem  to  be  tho- 
roughly aware  :  and,  to  give  them  their  due, 
they  may  justly  claim  the  praise  of  perfect  ana- 
logical consistency.  As  they  maintain,  that  Re- 
generation is  inseparably  united  to  Baptism  ;  so 
they  likewise  maintain,  that  every  one,  who  re- 
ceives the  consecrated  elements  of  bread  and 
wine,  receives  also  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 
As  for  their  peculiar  doctrine  of  Transubstantia- 
tion,  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  present  ques- 
tion. For  the  matter  in  debate  is,  not  whether 
the  consecrated  elements  shadow  oilt  the  literal 
or  the  mystical  body  and  blood  of  Christ  ;  but 
whether  the  reception  of  Christ  in  some  sense  or 


150         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

another  be  the  universal  consequence  of  receiv- 
ing the  consecrated  elements.  Protestants  and 
Papists  may  differ  in  their  views  of  the  thing 
signified  by  the  bread  and  v^rine :  but  the  real 
question,  with  which  we  are  at  present  concern- 
ed, is  this ;  whether  the  thing  signified  by  the  con- 
seer  at  ed  elements  be  u?iiversallyr9^ceived  by  the 
person  who  receives  the  elements  themselves.  Now 
this  question  the  Romanists,  very  consistently 
with  their  views  of  the  inseparability  of  Baptism 
and  Regeneration,  decide  in  the  affirmative. 

But  are  the  Protestant  advocates  for  the  in- 
separability of  outward  Baptism  by  water  and 
inward  Regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit  equally 
consistent  in  their  opinion  respecting  the  two 
parts  in  the  Lord's  Supper  ?  I  fear,  that  it  will 
be  utterly  impossible  to  concede  to  them  the 
same  praise  for  consistency,  which  has  been 
justly  conceded  to  the  Romanists.  They  be- 
lieve, I  apprehend,  no  more  than  their  oppo- 
nents on  the  question  of  Regeneration,  that  every 
wicked  man,  who  presumptuously  eats  the  con- 
secrated bread  and  drinks  the  consecrated  wine, 
does  by  that  act  spiritually  partake  of  the  mysti- 
cal body  and  blood  of  Christ.  On  this  point  at 
least,  the  Church  of  England  is  perfectly  explic- 
it. The  zvicked,  and  such  as  be  void  of  a  lively 
faith,  although  they  do  carnally  and  visibly  press 
with  their  teeth  (as  St.  Augustine  saith)  the  sa- 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,  151 

crament  of  the  body  and  Mood  of  Christ :  yet  in  no 
wise  are  they  partakers  of  Christ  ;  but  leather,  to 
their  condemnation,  do  eat  arid  drink  the  sign  or 
sacrament  of  so  great  a  thing.* 

Thus  it  appears,  that  they,  who  vehemently 
maintain  the  universal  inseparability  of  the  two 
parts  in  one  sacrament,  equally  maintain  the 
very  possible  and  the  very  frequent  separability 
of  the  two  parts  in  the  other  sacrament ;  thus 
palpably   and  completely  violating  the  law  of 
Analogy.     But  no  such  violation  can  be  ascribed 
to   their  opponents  respecting  the  doctrine  of 
Regeneration  being  the  universal  concomitajit  of 
outward  Baptism.     They  are  perfectly  consist- 
ent in  their  views  of  the  two  sacraments,  though 
they  take  a  position  diametrically  opposite  to 
that  of  the  equally  consistent  Romanists,     As 
they  assert  the  fr^equent  separability  of  the  out- 
ward and  inward  parts  in  one  sacrament,  so 
they  analogously  assert  the  frequent  separability 
of  the  outward  and  inward  parts  in  the  other  sa- 
crament.    While,  in  short,  they  believe,  that  a 
man  may  carnally  partake  of  the  bread  and  wine 
without  spiritually  partaking  of  Christ's   body 
and  blood  ;  they  likewise  beheve,  that  a  person 
may  be  externally  baptized  in  water  without  be- 
ing internally  regenerated  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

*  Art,  xxix. 


152         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

From  what  has  now  been  said,  some  judgment 
may  possibly  be  formed,  how  far  the  theory, 
that  outward  Baptism  and  inward  Regeneration 
are  universally  inseparable^  can  be  reconciled 
either  with  actual  Experience  or  right  Reason 
or  Analogy ;  it  remains  to  be  inquired,  whether 
this  theory  be  more  agreeable  to  Scripture,  to 
the  decisions  of  the  AngUcan  Church  as  deduced 
from  Scripture,  and  to  the  views  of  a  great  body 
of  the  ablest  divines  of  that  Church.  To  pro- 
long the  discussion  any  further  than  is  here  laid 
down  may  be  deemed  superfluous  in  a  member 
of  the  Church  of  England. 


SERMON  VI. 


THE   DOCTRINE    OF   REGENERATION,    ACCORDING    TO   SCRIP^ 
TURE  AND  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND. 


ROMANS    IT.    28,    29. 


He  is  not  a  Jew^  which  is  one  outwardly;  neither  is  that 
circumcision^  which  is  outward  iti  the  jiesh :  but  he  is  a 
Jexv^  xvhich  is  one  inwardly  ;  and  circumcision  is  that 
of  the  hearty  in  the  spirit,  and  not  in  the  letter  ;  whose 
praise  is  not  qfmen^  but  of  God. 

THE  theory,  that  Spiritual  Regeneration  is 
the  inseparable  concomitant  of  External  Baptism 
by  water,  has  frequently  been  maintained  with  a 
degree  of  confidence  perhaps  more  dogmatical 
than  prudent.  A  sober  and  genuine  protestant 
inquirer  however  will  be  little  disposed  to  re- 
ceive any  system,  merely  because  it  comes 
recommended  by  a  somewhat  overweening  po- 
sitiveness.  He  will  rather  be  disposed  to  prove 
all  things  and  to  hold  fast  only  that  which  is 

Faber.  21 


154         The  Boctrine  of  Regeneration. 

good.  Hence  he  will  not  lightly  admit  a  theory, 
which  advances  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
propositions  upon  record.  He  will  not  indeed 
peremptorily  decide  against  it  in  the  first  in- 
stance, simply  because  it  does  advance  a  most 
extraordinary  position :  for  he  well  knows,  that, 
although  we  are  not  precisely  bound  to  receive 
an  extraordinary  position  because  it  is  boldly  and 
peremptorily  asserted  to  be  true,  yet  very  extra- 
ordinary positions  may  after  all  be  perfectly  con- 
sistent with  veracity.  But  he  conceives  it  to  be 
not  only  his  right,  but  his  bounden  duty  also,  to 
sift  such  a  position  to  the  very  bottom  by  every 
varied  mode  which  he  can  devise  ;  so  that  he 
may  admit  or  reject  it,  according  as  he  is  deter- 
mined by  the  weight  of  evidence.  This  was  the 
grand  principle  of  the  Reformation :  a  principle, 
by  which  real  Scriptural  truth  can  never  be  en- 
dangered ;  a  principle,  the  dereliction  of  which 
is  a  virtual  relapse  into  the  very  spirit  of  Popery. 
Most  heartily  then  can  a  genuine  protestant  say 
with  a  late  eminent  bishop  of  the  Enghsh  Church, 
Would  God,  all  the  Lord^s  people  were  prophets'^. 
But,  as  this  in  the  nature  of  things  can  never  be, 
he  will  at  any  rate  be  a  decided  friend  to  a  spi- 
rit of  sober  inquiry  in  those  who  have  the  means 

*  Bp.  Horsley. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         ±55 

and  opportunities  of  embarking  in  theological 
discussion*. 

With  respect  to  the  theory  before  us,  we  have 
ah'cady  seen  that  there  are  some  considerable 
grounds  for  doubting  whether  it  derives  any  sup- 
port either  from  actual  Experience  or  from  right 
Reason,  or  from  Analogy.  Now,  if  this  be  the 
case,  it  is  difficult  to  be  believe,  that  a  theory 
so  circumstanced  can  rest  upon  the  solid  basis  of 
Scriptural  Authority.  For  (to  omit  the  argu- 
ment from  Analogy,  which  is  readily  acknow- 
ledged to  be  rathei'  presumptive  than  decisive), 
though  Revelation  may  teach  us  many  things 
which  are  above  Reason,  many  things  also  which 
it  is  impossible  for  us  to  ascertain  by  the  test  of 
actual  Experience ;  it  is  hard  to  conceive,  that 
the  word  of  God  should  declare  to  us  any  thing, 
which  is  directly  cwdrary  to  right  Reason,  and 
with  which  actual  Experience  is  by  no  means 
found  to  tally.  Still  we  ought  not  to  determine 
too  rashly  a  priori.  So  limited  is  the  human  in- 
tellect, that  it  may  easily  be  mistaken  in  various 

*  Most  fully  is  this  principle  recognized  by  the  Church  of 
England,  in  her  sixth  Article. 

Holy  Scripture  containeth  all  things  necessary  to  salvation  ; 
so  that,  whatsoever  is  not  read  therein,  nor  may  be  proved 
thereby,  is  not  to  be  required  of  any  man,  that  it  should  be  be- 
lieved as  an  article  of  the  faith,  or  be  thought  requisite  or  ne- 
cessary to  salvation.  .  ■ 


156  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

matters,  which  yet  appear  to  be  almost  self-evi- 
dent. The  consciousness  of  our  own  short-sight- 
edness ought  to  produce  in  us  an  unfeigned  dif- 
fidence and  humility.  After  all  the  independent 
reasoning  in  the  world,  the  question,  with  those 
who  admit  the  divine  inspiration  of  the  Bible, 
must  finally  be  determined  by  a  reference  to  the 
sacred  volume  itself. 

I.  We  have  at  present  therefore  to  inquire, 
whether  Scripture  affords  any  just  warrant  for 
the  theory,  that  Baptisfn  and  Regeneration  are  so 
inseparably  united :  that^  where  the  one  is.  the  other 
also  is  ;  and^  where  the  one  is  not,  the  other  also  is 
not. 

1.  I  know  not  of  any  texts,  which  might  seem 
at  all  to  support  this  alleged  inseparability,  ex- 
cept the  following. 

Jesus  answered,  Verily  -verily  I  say  unto  thee, 
except  a  man  he  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit, 
fie  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God^. 

According  to  his  mercy  he  saved  us  by  the 
washing  of  regeneration  and  renewing  of  the 
Holy  Ghost-f. 

He  went  and  preached  unto  the  spirits  in  pri- 
son, which  sometime  were  disobedient,  when  once 
the  lo7ig  suffering  of  God  waited  in  the  days  of 
Noah  while  the  ark  was  apreparijig,  wherein  few, 

^  John  iii.  5,  f  Tit.  iii.  5. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,  157 

that  is  eight  souls^  were  saved  by  water.  The  like 

figure  whereimto,   even  Baptism^  doth  also  now 

save  us  {not  the  putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the 

flesh,  but  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  towards 

God)  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ^, 

(1.)  On  the  first  of  these  texts  it  may  be  said, 
ih^i  a  birth  from  water  is  immediately  associated 
with  a  birth  from  the  Spirit;  that  a  birth  from 
both  one  and  the  other  is  represented,  as  being 
a  necessary  qualification  for  the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven ;  and  that  an  inseparable  union  of  the  two 
may  thence  be  fairly  inferred. 

(3.)  On  the  second  of  them  it  may  be  said, 
that  in  it  Regeneration  is  styled  the  washing  or 
laver  of  RegetieraUon,  no  less  than  the  Renewing 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Whence  it  might  be  argued, 
that,  if  Regeneration  can  properly  be  called  a 
washing  or  laver,  the  actual  use  of  water  must  be 
associated  with  the  actual  reception  of  the  grace : 
for,  if  Regeneration  can  be  experienced  without 
external  washing  by  water,  then  there  seems  an 
impropriety  in  denominating  that  a  washing, 
which  in  fact  has  no  necessary  connection  with 
any  washing  at  all. 

(3.)  And  on  the  third  of  them  it  maybe  said, 
that,  if  we  be  saved  by  Baptism  as  Noah  and  his 
family  were  saved  by  water  ^  then  a  capability  of 

*  1  Pet.  iii.  19,  20,  21. 


458         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

salvation,  or  in  other  words  spiritual  Regenera- 
tion without  which  no  man  can  be  saved,  must 
be  conferred  in  the  very  act  of  Baptism :  be- 
cause, otherwise,  the  comparison  does  not  hold 
good.  For  if  Regeneration  be  not  conferred  by 
Baptism,  then  are  we  not  saved  by  Baptism.  But 
we  are  declared  to  be  saved  by  Baptism,  just  as 
Noah  was  saved  by  water.  Therefore  Baptism 
must  invariably  coQimunicate  Regeneration. 

2.  I  readily  acknowledge,  that  these  texts  in 
the  abstract  might  well  be  deemed  ambiguous; 
so  that,  if  we  had  nothing  else  to  guide  us,  we 
might  not  unfairly,  though  with  some  hesitation, 
suppose  them  to  teach  the  inseparability  of  Re- 
generation  and  Baptism :  but  even  under  such 
circumstances,  I  could  not  allow  them  to  be  at  all 
decisiv>e. 

It  may  be  remarked  of  the  three  conjointly, 
that,  as  it  is  agreed  on  all  hands  that  Baptism  is 
the  outward  symbol  of  Regeneration,  whatever 
may  be  its  additional  efficacy ;  so  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  deny,  that,  by  one  of  the  most  com- 
mon figures  of  rhetoric,  the  sign  and  the  thing 
signified  are  conversely  and  indifferently  used 
in  our  ordinary  forms  of  speech.  Thus  we  are 
accustomed  to  style  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  the  holy  communion  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  our  Saviour  Christ ;  and  with  good  reason,  for 
Jesus  himself  scrupled  not  to  say  of  the  bread 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         159 

This  is  7ny  hody^  and  of  the  wine  This  is  my 
blood :  yet,  when  we  so  speak  of  the  last  Supper, 
we  do  not  mean  to  intimate,  that  all,  who  par- 
take of  the  bread  and  wine,  are  therefore  par- 
takers of  the  holy  communion  of  Christ's  spiri- 
tual body  and  blood.  Thus,  in  a  similar  manner, 
Moses  denominates  the  paschal  lamb  the  Lord^s 
Passover:^  yet  no  one  supposes  him  to  mean, 
that  the  lamb  was  absolutely  the  same  thing  as 
God's  act  of  passing  over  the  houses  of  the  Is- 
raelites. Thus  again,  inversely,  Christ  denomi- 
nates himself  a  Door  and  a  Vine :  and  thus  Je- 
hovah is  said  to  be  a  Sun  and  a  Shield  and  a 
Rock:  yet  no  confusion  ensues.  By  this  very 
common  figure  therefore  it  is  perfectly  natural 
to  style  Regeneration  a  washing  or  a  baptism, 
and  thence^  to  speak  of  our  being  saved  by  Bap- 
tism or  of  our  being  born  again  from  water.  It  is 
a  phraseology,  which  we  so  well  understand  in 
all  ordinary  cases,  that  there  seems  little  rea- 
son, why,  in  the  three  texts  now  under  consi- 
deration, we  should  adopt  a  different  principle 
of  interpreting  them:  at  least,  ere  we  adopt 
such  a  principle,  we  may  require  a  decisive 
proof  of  its  propriety  from  other  less  equivocal 
passages,  if  any  such  can  be  found.f 

*  Exod.  xii.  11. 

Abp.  Usher  speaks  exactly  to  the  same  purpose,  though  in- 


160  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

3.  If  then  no  other  texts  treated  of  the  sub- 
ject save  these  three,  I  allow  that  their  import 
would  be  ambiguous :  for  it  might  be  doubtful, 
whether  they  used  the  terms  baptism  and  wash- 
ing and  water  literally  or  metonymically ;  it 
might  be  doubtful  in  short,  whether  the  out- 
ward sign  was  pronounced  to  be  essentially  ne- 
cessary to  our  salvation,  or  whether  we  might 
not  be  saved  solely  by  the  inward  grace  without 
the  external  sign.  But  there  are  other  texts, 
which  are  sufficiently  plain  and  explicit  on  the 
subject:  and  according  to  all  just  rules  of  criti- 
cism, what  is  ambiguous  ought  ever  to  be  inter- 
preted by  what  is  not  ambiguous. 

(i.)  We  read  then;  that  he  is  not  a  Jew  which 
is  one  outwardly ;  neither  is  that  Circumcision 

deed  it  is  almost  needless  to  produce  any  authority  for  so  ob- 
vious a  view  of  the  matter. 

What  is  the  cause,  asks  the  learned  Primate,  that  moved  the 
Lord  to  grace  the  outward  signs  in  the  sacraments  with  the 
names  of  the  things  signified  ?  The  outward  elements  have 
the  names  of  the  spiritual  things  they  set  forth  :  first,  because 
of  their  fit  proportion  and  agreement,  in  regard  of  the  re- 
semblance and  similitude  of  the  elements  and  things  signi- 
fied ;  in  which  respect  they  are  called  Signs :  secondly,  to 
shew  the  inseparable  conjunction  of  the  things  signified  with 
the  sign  in  the  worthy  receiver ;  in  which  regard  they  are 
called  Seals^  as  in  the  person  of  Christ  his  two  natures  are  so 
inseparably  united  that  often  times  the  properties  and  effects 
of  the  one  are  attributed  to  the  other.  Abp,  Usher's  Body 
ofDivin.  p.  3 S3. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.        1 6  i 

which  is  outward  in  the  flesh :  but  he  is  a  Jew^ 
rvhich  is  one  inwardly  ;  and  Circumcision  is  that 
of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit,  and  not  in  the  letter, 
rvhose  praise  is  not  of  men  hut  of  God.^ 

From  this  passage  we  evidently  collect,  that 
Circumcision  under  the  Law  was  a  sign  of  the 
very  same  import  as  Baptism  under  the  Gospel : 
and,  if  such  a  view  of  the  matter  were  at  all 
doubtful,  we  might  have  our  doubts  removed 
even  by  the  Law  itself.  Circumcise  the  foreskin 
of  your  heart,  says  Moses  to  the  children  of  Is- 
rael, and  he  no  more  stiff necked.f  The  Lord  thy 
God  will  circumcise  thine  heart  and  the  heart  of 
thy  seed,  to  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine 
heart  and  with  all  thy  soul,  that  thou  may  est  live.X 
Here  we  find  it  explicitly  declared,  that  the  lite- 
ral Circumcision  of  the  flesh  symbolized  a  mys- 
tical Circumcision  of  the  heart:  and  that  mysti- 
cal Circumcision  of  the  heart  is  represented  as 
consisting  of  such  an  entire  change  of  the  soul, 
that  it  now  unreservedly  loves  God  with  all  its 
powers  and  faculties.  But  this  is  precisely  the 
Christian  view  of  outward  Baptism  and  inward 
Regeneration.  Therefore  whatever  is  said  of 
external  Circumcision  may  be  considered  as  in 
effect  said  of  external  Baptism. 

*  Rom.  ii.  28, 29.         f  Deut.  x.  16.         \  Deut.  xxx.  6.    * 

Faher.     %% 


162         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

Now  in  the  leading  text  to  which  I  have  re- 
ferred, we  are  certainly  taught,  not  only  that 
mere  outward  Circumcision  is  nothing  without 
a  corresponding  inward  Circumcision  of  the 
heart,  but  likewise  that  this  outward  Circumci- 
sion may  subsist  without  inward  Circumcision  : 
for  the  apostle  places  a  Jew,  who  has  received 
the  outward  sign  of  Circumcision,  in  studied  con- 
trast with  a  Jew  who  has  experienced  the  inward 
Circumcision  of  the  heart :  his  argument  there- 
fore palpably  requires,  that  the  first  Jew  should 
be  viewed  as  having  received  outward  Circum- 
cision only ;  otherwise  there  is  no  contrast  be- 
tween the  two  examples.  But,  if  the  first  Jew 
has  received  outward  Circumcision  only^  then 
this  outward  sign  under  the  Law  was  not  insepa- 
rably accompanied  by  the  inward  thing  signi- 
fied. Circumcision  however  under  the  one 
Dispensation  answers  to  Baptism  under  the  other 
Dispensation.  Therefore,  if  Circumcision  under 
the  Law  did  not  necessarily  confer  Regeneration, 
neither  does  Baptism  under  the  Gospel. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  said,  that  the  Jew,  adduced 
by  St.  Paul,  had  actually  been  regenerated  in 
the  article  of  Circumcision,  but  that  he  after- 
wards through  sin  fell  away  from  his  privilege  ; 
just  as  it  is  contended,  that  every  baptized  per- 
son is  ipso  facto  regenerated,  though  he  may 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneratmi,         163 

hereafter  lapse  from  his  Regeneration  and  need 
to  be  renewed  by  grace. 

Such  a  mode  of  obviating  the  difficulty  as  this, 
while  it  runs  directly  counter  to  the  plain  lan- 
guage of  Scripture,  will  be  found  to  involve  those 
who  employ  it  in  a  maze  from  which  they  will 
not  very  easily  extricate  themselves. 

In  a  remarkable  prophecy  respecting  the  fu- 
ture fortunes  of  the  Israelites,  God  declares,  that 
when  for  their  sins  he  shall  have  brought  them 
into  the  land  of  their  enemies^  if  then  their  uncir- 
cumcised  hearts  be  humbled,  he  will  remembei^  his 
covenant  with  Jacob.*  Now  it  is  manifest,  that 
the  persons  here  spoken  of  had  been  externally 
circumcised  in  the  flesh  ;  yet  we  find  God  him- 
self asserting,  that,  notwithstanding  their  due  re- 
ception of  the  outward  rite,  their  hearts  had  still 
remained  uncircumcised  :  in  other  words,  they 
had  received  the  outward  visible  sign  without  any 
accompanying  inward  spiritual  grace.  The  same 
observation  equally  applies  to  various  parallel 
passages.  All  the  house  of  Israel  are  imcir cum- 
cised in  the  heart,  says  the  Lord,  by  the  mouth 
of  his  prophet  Jeremiah. f  Ye  stiff-necked  and 
uncircumcised  in  heart  and  ears,  ye  do  always 
resist  the  Holy  Ghost,  exclaims  the  martyr  Ste- 
phen to  the  assembled  Sanhedrim  ofthe  Jews.f 

*  Levit.  xxvi.  41,  42.         f  Jerem.  ix.  26.       i  Acts  vii.  51. 


164         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

Yet  the  persons,  thus  spoken  of  and  thus  ad- 
dressed, had  all  been  outwardly  circumcised.  < 
Hence  it  is  manifest,  that  it  was  quite  possible 
under  the  Law  to  receive  the  outward  sign  wi^^- 
out  the  inward  grace:  and,  as  Circumcision  un- 
der the  Law  answers  to  Baptism  under  the  Gos- 
pel, it  seems  very  extraordinary,  that  Regenera- 
tion should  be  necessarily  and  inseparably  tied 
to  Baptism,  while  yet  Circumcision  of  the  heart 
is  no  invariable  concomitant  of  Circumcision  of 
the  flesh. 

Nor  is  this  all :  we  must  next  consider  the 
difliculties  with  which  those  will  be  hampered, 
who  should  attempt  to  maintain,  that,  as  Regen- 
eration is  inseparable  from  Baptism,  so  internal 
Circumcision  is  inseparable  from  external  Cir- 
cumcision. At  the  first  preaching  of  the  Gos- 
pel, every  Jewish  convert  was  baptized  agreea- 
bly to  the  institution  of  Christ.  This  being  the 
case,  in  what  light  are  we  to  view  the  spiritual 
condition  of  such  persons  ?  If  they  were  already 
regenerated  by  Circumcision,  then  they  could 
not  be  a  second  time  regenerated  by  Baptism  ; 
unless  we  admit  that  a  man  may  experience  two 
spiritual  new  births,  an  opinion  (I  believe)  not 
yet  advanced  by  any  one :  and  again,  if  they 
were  regenerated  by  Baptism,  then  they  could 
not  have  been  previously  regenerated  by  Cir- 
cumcision.    One  theory,  or  the  other,  must  in- 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         165 

evitably  be  given  up  ;  for  the  two  are  plainly 
inconsistent.  If  Regeneration  be  inseparable 
from  Baptism,  then  it  must  needs  be  separable 
from  Circumcision  :  and,  if  it  be  inseparable 
from  Ciixumcision,  then  it  must  needs  be  sepa- 
rable from  Baptism. 

The  result  then  of  the  argument  from  the  text 
now  under  consideration  is  this.  External  and 
internal  Circumcision  under  the  Law  answer  to 
Baptism  and  Regeneration  under  the  Gospel. 
But  a  Jew  may  be  outwardly  circumcised  in  the 
flesh,  without  being  inwardly  circumcised  in  the 
heart.  Therefore  a  Christian  may  be  ouwardly 
baptized  in  water,  without  being  inwardly  regen- 
erated by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

(S.)  There  are  certain  other  texts,  which 
speak  the  same  important  truth,  not  indeed 
more  positively,  bnt  more  directly  :  that  is  to 
say,  they  require  no  long  train  of  reasoning,  by 
which  we  may  arrive  at  the  proper  induction 
from  them.     These  I  shall  notice  conjointly. 

Love  is  of  God :  and  every  07ie^  that  loveth,  is 
horn  of  God,  and  knoweth  God* — Unless  then  it 
can  be  proved,  that  no  person  ever  yet  expe- 
rienced that  divine  charity,  which  is  shed  abroad 
in  the  hearts  of  the  regenerate  by  the  Blessed 
Spirit,  until  he  had  been  first  duly  baptized ;  w^e 

*  1  John  iv.  7. 


166  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

may  rest  assured,  that  the  being  born  of  God  does 
not  depend  necessarily  upon  outward  Baptism. 
According  to  the  apostle,  every  one  that  pos- 
sesses this  love,  whether  he  has  been  baptized 
or  not,  is  born  of  God. 

IVhosoever  believeth,  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ, 
is  born  of  God* — From  the  context  of  this  pas- 
sage it  is  clear,  that  the  faith  here  spoken  of  is 
not  a  mere  notional  assent  of  the  understand- 
ing, but  that  faith  which  is  the  gift  of  God  him- 
self, and  which  in  the  very  nature  of  things  must 
he  peculiar  to  the  spiritual  or  regenerate  believ- 
er :  for  it  is  a  contradiction  in  terms  to  say,  that 
a  man,  who  is  not  spiritual,  can  yet  possess  a 
spiritual  faith.  Here  then  we  learn,  that  every 
one,  who  possesses  a  lively  faith,  is  born  of  God : 
and  it  is  incumbent  upon  those,  who  maintain 
the  inseparability  of  Baptism  and  Regeneration, 
to  prove,  that  no  one  was  ever  known  to  possess 
such  a  faith  unless  he  had  been  first  baptized. 

Whatsoever  is  horjiof  God  over cometh  theworld\ 
— This  passage  affords  us  another  test  of  Regen- 
eration. Let  a  person,  not  from  mere  secular 
stoical  pride,  but  from  a  full  confidence  in  God's 
promises  through  Christ,  rise  superior  to  an  ir- 
religious world,  and  order  his  whole  walk  and 
conversation  with  a  determined  reference  to  a 

*  1  John  V.  1.  t  1  John  v.  4. 


The  Doctnne  of  Regeneration.        167 

future  state  :  that  person  we  are  authorized  to 
pronounce  regenerate.  But  was  such  a  devo- 
tion as  this  never  exhibited  in  the  Christian 
Church,  save  by  those  who  had  been  first  bap- 
tized ? 

In  all  these  passages,  St.  John  says  not  a  syl- 
lable respecting  outward  baptism.  The  evident 
drift  of  them  all  is  exactly  alike.  He,  that  lov- 
eth,  and  believeth,  and  overcometh  the  world,  is 
born  of  God,  whether  outwardly  baptized  or 
not :  and  he,  that  loveth  not^  and  believeth  not, 
and  overcometh  not  the  world,  is  not  born  of 
God,  even  though  he  may  have  been  outwardly 
baptized.* 

4.  Additional  light  will  be  thrown  upon  the 
subject,  if  to  these  texts  we  subjoin  examples. 

It  is  maintained  that  Baptism  and  Regeneration 


*  I  need  scarcely  remark,  that  the  pi'edoviinatmg  character 
of  a  man's  principles  and  practice  is  plainly  the  matter  design- 
ed to  be  set  forth  in  these  texts.  As  it  were  absurd  to  inter- 
pret them  as  teaching,  that  a  regenerate  man  is  distinguished 
by  a  perfect  love,  a  perfect  faith,  or  a  perfect  victory  over  the 
world :  so  it  were  manifestly  unreasonable  to  object  to  this  de- 
lineation of  a  regenerate  man,  that  he  may  sometimes  fail  in 
each  of  these  important  particulars.  "YXxo.  grand^  leadings  per- 
manent^ bent  of  the  mind  is  that,  which  constitutes  the  special 
difference  between  the  regenerate  and  the  unregenerate.  This 
ought  never  to  be  forgotten ;  nor  will  it  ever  be  forgotten,  by 
the  fair  and  candid  disputant,  whose  object  is  not  victor)',  but 
truth. 


168         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

are  inseparable.  But  Regeneration  is  essentially 
necessary  for  our  admission  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  Therefore  all,  who  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  are  regenerate. 

Hence,  if  it  can  be  proved  that  any  person  has 
entered  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  it  will  at  the 
same  time  be  proved  that  that  person  has  been 
previously  regenerated.  And,  if  it  can  further  be 
proved  that  the  person  thus  previously  regene- 
rated has  never  been  baptized,  we  shall  have  as 
complete  demonstration  as  can  be  desired,  that 
Baptism  and  Regeneration  are  not  inseparable. 

In  a  similar  manner,  if>it  can  be  proved,  either 
that  a  person  was  regenerated  before  Baptism  or 
that  he  had  not  been  regenerated  immediately 
after  Baptism ;  we  shall  still  be  obviously 
brought  to  the  same  conclusion,  that  Baptism 
may  subsist  ivithout  Regeneration,  and  that  Re- 
generation may  subsist  without  Baptism. 

Now,  if  I  mistake  not,  it  is  abundantly  easy  to 
establish  all  these  several  propositions  by  actual 
examples  drawn  from  Holy  Writ. 

(1.)  Before  the  time  of  Abraham,  neither  Cir- 
cumcision nor  Baptism  had  been  instituted.  Are 
all  the  members  then  of  the  patriarchal  Church 
to  be  pronounced  unregenerate,  on  the  ground 
that  there  can  be  no  Regeneration  where  there 
is  no  Baptism  :  and  are  they  thence  to  be  all  ex- 
cluded from  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  because  as- 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         169 

sufedJy  no  unregenerate  person  can  in  the  very 
nature  of  things  be  admitted  into  the  presence  of 
God  ?  It  is  presumed,  that  such  is  not  the  case : 
but  we  may  do  more  than  merely  presume. 
Enoch  was  translated  alive  to  heaven :  therefore 
Enoch  must  have  been  regenerated.  But  Enoch 
was  neither  circumcised  nor  baptized,  and  yet  he 
was  regenerated  :  therefore  Regeneration  is  not 
inseparably  tied  either  to  Circumcision  or  to  Bap- 
tism. 

On  this  it  may  be  said,  that  it  is  unfair  to  ad- 
duce such  an  example  as  Enoch,  who  lived  be- 
fore the  institution  of  any  outward  visible  sign  of 
Regeneration.  At  a  period,  when  as  yet  there 
was  no  appointed  sign,  the  thing  signified  must 
of  course  be  independent  of  any  external  sym- 
bol: but,  when  once  there  was  an  appointed  sign, 
the  case  becomes  widely  different.  Though 
Enoch  was  taken  up  into  heaven,  and  therefore 
must  have  been  regenerated,  indepejidently  of 
any  outward  visible  sign  of  Regeneration ;  this 
will  not  prove,  that,  when  a  visible  sign  has  been 
instituted,  the  grace  of  Regeneration  can  be  con- 
veyed i7idependently  of  such  sign. 

Be  it  so  :  let  us  then  at  once  quit  the  Patriar- 
chal Church,  and  descend  to  the  Christian. 

Our  Lord  was  crucified  between  two  notorious 
malefactors.  These  hardened  offenders,  though 
suffering  themselves,  yet  joined  with  one  con- 

Faher.       23 


170         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

sent  in  reviling  the   Saviour  of  mankind.     Yet, 
even  under  such   circumstances,  God  did  not 
forget  his  merciful  loving  kindness.     The  heart 
of  one  of  the  malefactors  was  suddenly  touched 
by  divine  grace,  even  in  the  midst  of  his  expro- 
brations.     Lord^  said  he  to  Jesus,  remember  me 
when  thou  comest  into  thy  kingdom.     The  prayer 
of  the  penitent  was  not  unsuccessful.     Jesus  said 
u7ito  him,  Ferity  I  say  unto  thee,  to  day  shalt  thou 
he  with  me  in  Paradise.     The  salvation  then  of 
this  malefactor  is  just  as  certain  a  fact,  as  the 
salvation  of  Enoch:  he  was  assuredly  admitted 
into  the  beatific  presence  of  God.     But,  without 
holiness,  no  man  can  see  the  Lord  :  and,  of  ho- 
liness. Regeneration  is  the  commencing  point  ; 
for  it  is  a  contradiction  in  terms  to  say,  that  any 
unregenerate  person  can  be  holy  while  he  re- 
mains unregenerate.     The  malefactor  however 
did  see  the  Lord.     Therefore   he    must  have 
been  sanctified :  whence  also  he  must  necessa- 
rily have  been  regenerated.     But  the  sacrament 
of  Baptism  was  instituted  before  the  crucifixion  :* 
consequently  regeneration  had  at  this  time  an 
outward  visible  sign,  appointed  by  our   Lord 
himself     Now  the  penitent  malefactor  had  cer- 
tainly never  been  baptized.     Yet  was  he  no  less 
certainly  a  regenerate  person :  because,  unless 

*  John  iv.  1,  2. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         171 

he  had  been  such,  he  could  not  have  entered 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  which  Christ  ex- 
pressly promised  that  he  should  do.  The  peni- 
tent malefactor  therefore,  subsequent  to  the  in- 
stitution of  Baptism,  was  regenerated  without 
having  been  baptized.  Consequently,  Regener- 
ation is  not  inseparably  tied  to  Baptism. 

(3.)  The  penitent  malefactor  was  not  baptiz- 
ed at  all  ;  yet  he  was  certainly  regenerated :  let 
us  next  see,  whether  we  cannot  produce  any 
instances  of  persons  being  regenerated  before 
Baptism,  and  of  their  afterivards  submitting  to 
that  rite  as  an  outward  sign  of  an  inward  spirit- 
ual grace. 

A  certain  Roman  centurion,  named  Cornelius^ 
is  said,  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles^  to  have  been  a 
devout  man  and  one  that  feared  God  with  all  his 
house,  who  gave  much  alms  to  the  people  and  pray- 
ed to  God  ahvays*  Such  is  the  general  charac- 
ter of  this  person  :  and  we  find  it  so  highly 
pleasing  to  the  Supreme  Being,  that  he  was  in- 
formed, even  by  the  mouth  of  an  angel,  that  his 
prayers  and  his  alms  had  come  up  for  a  memorial 
before  God.-f  Thus  eulogized  by  the  Omnicient 
himself,  he  is  charged  to  send  for  Peter,  by 
whom  he  should  be  instructed  in  his  duty  more 
fully  than  he  had  hitherto  been.J     The  apostle, 

*  Acts  X.  1,  2.  f  Acts  X.  4.  i  Acts  x.  5,  6. 


1 72  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneratioji, 

accordingly,  came :  and  the  just  Cornelius,  as 
he  is  well  styled  by  his  servants,  expressed  him- 
self with  the  utmost  humility,  as  wishing  only 
to  hear  all  things  that  were  commanded  him  of 
God*  With  this  lowly  and  teachable  mind,  he 
became  the  catechumen  of  St.  Peter  :  and,  while 
the  apostle  was  yet  in  the  act  of  instructing  him 
and  his  household  the  members  of  which  appear 
to  have  been  animated  with  a  spirit  similar  to 
that  of  their  master,  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all 
them  which  heard  the  word.f  Peter  then  very 
naturally  asked.  Can  any  man  forbid  water  that 
these  should  tiot  be  baptized,  xvhich  have  received 
the  Holy  Ghost  as  well  as  we  ?%  Accordingly,  he 
forthwith  commanded  them  to  be  baptized  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord.^ 

With  respect  to  the  descent  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  which  is  mentioned  as  having  taken  place 
before  the  Baptism  of  this  devout  family,  I  shall 
not  urge  it  as  any  proof  of  their  Regeneration ; 
because  it  does  not  appear  to  me  to  bear  upon 
the  question  in  hand.  The  ordinary  operations 
of  the  Blessed  Spirit  indeed  are  experienced  by 
none  but  the  regenerate,  because  these  relate 
exclusively  to  the  divine  work  of  Sanctification 
whereof  Regeneration  is  the  commencement : 

*  Acts  X.  22,  33,  t  Acts  X.  44.  t  Acts  x.  47, 

$Acts  X.  4?. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.        173 

but  the  extraordinary  operations  of  the  same 
Spirit  have  been  experienced  alike  by  good  and 
bad,  by  Moses  and  by  Balaam,  by  David  and  by 
Saul,  by  Peter  and  by  Judas.  Now  the  descent 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  described  in  the  present 
history,  was  plainly  of  an  extraordinary  nature ; 
because  it  is  said,  that  in  consequence  of  it  Cor- 
nehus  and  his  household  spake  with  tongues.^ 
Hence  this  descent  of  the  Spirit  is  no  proof,  that 
the  centurion  and  his  family  were  regenerated 
iefore  Baptism  :  they  might,  or  they  might  not, 
so  far  as  that  part  of  the  history  is  concerned. 
I  build  nothing  therefore  upon  Cornelius  having 
thus  received  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  ground  I  would  rather  take  is  that  of  his 
character^  as  set  forth  to  us,  not  by  erring  man, 
but  by  the  infallible  voice  of  inspiration  itself. 
We  are  told,  that  the  centurion  was  a  devout 
man,  who  feared  God  and  alwaifs  prayed  to  him. 
Had  this  information  been  given  us  by  mere  hu- 
man authority,  it  would  have  proved  just  nothing 
at  all ;  because  fallible  man,  who  reads  not  the 
heart,  might  easily  mistake  a  decent  hypocrite 
for  a  truly  devout  and  religious  person  :  but  the 
information  is  given  us  by  the  inspired  word  of 
that  God,  who  searches  the  very  secrets  of  the 
heart  and  who  sees  all  things  as  they  really  are. 

*  Acts  X.  46. 


174         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

Here,  therefore,  we  have  no  room  for  being 
mistaken :  God  himself  pronounces  Cornelius  to 
be  a  devout  man,  and  assures  him  that  his  pray- 
ers arid  his  alms  are  come  np  for  a  memorial 
before  the  Lord. 

\  Was  then  Cornelius  at  this  time  a  regenerate 
or  an  unregenerate  man  ?  The  unregenerate 
are  exhibited  to  us  in  Scripture,  as  even  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins,  hateful  and  hating  God,  and 
utterly  unable  while  unregenerate  to  receive  the 
things  of  the  Spirit.  Was  this  the  character  of 
Cornelius  ;  or  would  an  all-seeing  God  have 
styled  a  person,  who  really  bore  such  a  character 
whatever  fair  outward  pretensions  he  might 
make,  a  devout  man  ?  We  are  taught  in  Holy 
Writ,  that  even  the  very  prayer  and  sacrifice  of 
the  wicked  are  an  abomination  to  the  Lord.* 
The  prayers,  however,  and  the  alms  of  Corne- 
lius are  positively  declared  to  have  come  up  for 
a  memorial  before  God.  Was  then  Cornelius 
a  wicked,  or  (in  other  words)  an  unregenerate 
man  ?  It  is,  I  presume,  wholly  superfluous  to 
point  out  the  manner,  in  which  common  sense 
requires  these  questions  to  be  answered.  Cor- 
nelius had  plainly  been  regenerated  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  at  the  time  when  God  pronounced  him  to 
be  a  devout  man ;  though  it  was  necessary,  that 

*  Prov.  x^^  8.  xxviii.  9. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,        175 

he  should  be  fully  instructed  in  the  articles  of 
the  Christian  faith,  ere  he  was  formally  admitted 
by  Baptism  into  the  communion  of  the  Christian 
Church.  Hence  St.  Peter  was  called  in  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  him,  which  the  angel  could  not  do 
consistently  with  the  appointed  course  of  God's 
dispensation :  and  hence,  when  his  mind  had 
been  thoroughly  informed,  he  received  the 
rite  of  Baptism  at  the  hand  of  a  man  like  him- 
self 

But,  if  he  had  been  regenerated  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  when  God  pronounced  him  a  devout  man 
and  accepted  with  complacency  his  prayers  and 
his  alms  ;  then  he  must  have  been  regenerated 
^e/br^ Baptism  :  because  these  matters  occurred 
previous  to  his  being  baptized.  And,  if  he  were 
regenerated  before  Baptism  ;  then  we  are  once 
more  brought  to  the  same  conclusion  as  before, 
that  Baptism  and  Regeneration  are  not  insepa- 
rable. 

Nor  is  the  case  of  Cornelius  a  solitary  one : 
a  similar  train  of  reasoning  may  equally  be  ap- 
plied to  that  of  the  pious  Lydia,  which  is  also  re^ 
corded  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 

We  are  assured,  that  the  Lord  first  opened 
the  heart  of  this  woman  ;  that  next,  in  conse- 
quence of  her  heart  being  thus  opened  of  God, 
she  attended  unto  the  things  which  were  spoken  of 


176         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

Paul ;  and,  lastly,  that  she  was  baptized  together 
with  her  household,^ 

Here  the  order  of  events  is  precisely  the  same 
as  it  was  in  the  case  of  Cornelius :  first  Regene- 
ration, God  working  upon  her  heart  through  the 
medium  of  that  imperfect  knowledge  which  she 
already  possessed ;  next  catechetical  instruction ; 
and  lastly^  regular  Baptism.  If  it  be  objected, 
that  she  was  not  regenerated  when  God  opened 
her  heart  in  affection  to  the  word ;  I  would  ask, 
how  is  it  possible  for  God  thus  to  operate  upon 
an  unregenerate  heart,  the  heart  all  the  while 
remaining  unregenerate  ?  So  far  as  I  can  judge, 
such  an  objection  would  involve  a  palpable  con- 
tradiction in  terms :  for,  the  moment  the  heart 
is  divinely  and  effectually  inclined  to  godliness, 
that  same  moment  it  must  be  regenerated  ;  be- 
cause, that  same  moment,  the  work  of  Sanctifi- 
cation  commences. 

There  is  yet  a  third  instance  furnished  us  by 
the  same  inspired  book,  which  must  by  no  means 
be  passed  over  in  silence :  I  mean  that  of  the 
apostle  Paul. 

While  breathing  out  threatenings  and  slaugh- 
ter against  the  Christians,  he  was  suddenly  ar- 
rested in  the  vicinity  of  Damascus  by  a  light  and 
voice  from  heaven.  TrembUng  and  astonished, 
he  exclaimed,  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to 

*  Acts  xvi.  14. 


The  'Doctrine  of  Regeneration,  177 

do  ?  The  answer  commanded  him  to  proceed 
to  the  city,  and  there  with  submissive  patience 
expect  further  directions.  To  this  heavenly 
vision  the  blinded  and  humbled  persecutor  was 
not  disobedient.  Three  days  he  spent  at  Da- 
mascus, darkling  and  fasting  •  but  they  were  days 
of  high  import  to  his  future  destiny.  His  time 
was  not  misemployed :  Behold^  said  the  Lord 
himself  to  Ananias,  behold^  he  prayeth.  Such 
supplications,  fervent  and  sincere  and  intense, 
did  not  return  to  him  unanswered.  Ananias 
was  sent  to  instruct  him  in  the  Gospel :  he  forth- 
with received  his  sight :  he  arose,  and  was  bap- 
tized, thus  mystically  washing  away  his  sins.* 

Such  is  the  history  of  the  apostle's  conver- 
sion :  and  now  the  question  is,  at  wliat  time  did 
he  become  regenerate  ?  Was  it  during  the  three 
days  of  blindness  and  supplication,  which  pre- 
ceded his  Baptism ;  or  was  it  in  the  article  of 
his  Baptism  itself?  An  answer  will  readily  be 
obtained,  if  the  following  reasonable  postulate 
be  granted. 

^5  a  man  cannot  perform  any  natural  acts  an- 
terior ^o  his  natural  birth;  so,  analogically,  a 
man  cannot  perform  any  spiritual  acts  anterior 
to  his  spiritual  birth. 

The  reason  in  each  case  is  precisely  the  same. 
An  effect  cannot  subsist  prior  to  its  cause :  and 

*  Acts,  ix,  1 — 18,  xxii.  16, 

Faber.  S4 


178         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

we  might  just  as  well  say,  that  a  man  can  per- 
form natural  actions  before  he  is  naturally  born, 
as  that  a  man  can  perform  spiritual  actions  he^ 
fore  he  is  spiritually  born. 

The  question  now  becomes  narrowed  to  this: 
did  St.  Paul  perform  any  spiritual  actions  during 
the  three  days,  which  preceded  his  Baptism  ? 

I  would  not  build  too  much  upon  his  obedi- 
ence, or  upon  his  apparently  submissive  excla- 
mation, Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?  be- 
cause both  of  these  might  be  produced  by  the 
mere  operation  of  servile  terror:  but  I  would 
build  upon  the  testimony,  which  Christ  himself 
bears  of  his  future  apostle ;  Behold,  he  prayeth. 
Now,  as  I  have  just  had  occasion  to  observe  from 
Scripture,  the  very  prayer  of  the  unregenerate  is 
an  abomination  to  God.  The  prayer  tlierefore 
of  St.  Paul,  thus  commended  by  his  divine  master 
who  knows  the  very  secrets  of  our  hearts,  can- 
not have  been  the  formal  or  terror- wrung  prayer 
of  the  wicked :  for  such  a  prayer  most  assured- 
ly would  not  have  been  mentioned  in  terms  of 
approbation.  Consequently,  the  prayer  of  St. 
Paul  was  a  truly  spiritual  act :  whence  we  may 
safely  conclude,  that  his  submissive  obedience 
was  likewise  a  spiritual  act,  and  was  not  solely 
extorted  from  him  by  irreligious  terror.  St.  Paul, 
therefore,  performed  spiritual  acts  during  the 
three  days  anteriou  to  his  Baptism.     But  no 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.  179 

one  can  perform  spiritual  acts,  unless  he  he  first 
a  spiritual  person :  and  no  one  can  become  a 
spiritual  person  except  by  Regeneration;  for 
Regeneration,  as  the  very  term  implies,  is  the 
commencing  point  of  the  spiritual  life.  St.  Paul 
however  performed  spiritual  acts  during  the 
three  days  anterior  to  his  Baptism.  There- 
fore he  must  have  been  regenerated,  when  he 
performed  such  acts.  Hence  we  finally  arrive 
at  the  conclusion,  that  he  was  regenerated  ante- 
HioR  to  his  Baptism. 

This  conclusion  can  only  be  set  aside  by  the 
self-contradictory  assertion,  that  an  unregenerate 
or  non-spiritual  man  can  yet  perform  spiritual 
actions  ;  for  the  actions  of  St.  Paul  during  the 
three  days  were  undeniably  spiritual:  in  other 
words,  the  conclusion  can  only  be  set  aside  by 
vigorously  maintaining  the  portentous  proposi- 
tion that  effects  may  precede  their  causes. 

Such  being  the  case,  our  conclusion  is  not  in- 
validated by  the  language  of  Ananias,  Jirise^ 
and  be  baptized,  and  rvash  away  thy  sins.*  The 
washing  away  of  sins,  here  attributed  to  the  Bap- 
tism of  St.  Paul,  plainly  cannot  be  understood 
as  denoting,  that  the  apostle  was  still  in  the  gall 
of  bitterness  and  in  the  bond  of  iniquity :  for  he 
had  already  performed  spiritual  deeds  which  had 

*  Acts  xxii.  16. 


180         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

received  the  approbation  of  Christ  himself,  and 
consequently  must  have  been  a  spiritual  or  re- 
generate person.  We  must,  therefore,  if  we 
would  make  Scripture  consistent  with  itself,  in- 
terpret the  expression,  as  only  intimating  in  the 
technical  language  of  theology,  that  St.  Paul,  in 
order  to  his  being  publicly  admitted  into  the 
church,  must  submit  to  the  initiatory  rite  of  Bap- 
tism ;  which,  in  his  case,  as  well  as  in  every 
other  case,  mystically  shadowed  out  the  washing 
away  of  his  sins.  To  adopt  the  judicious  dis- 
tinction of  Bishop  Hopkins,  though  he  had  al- 
ready been  internally  regenerated  and  thus  lite- 
rally  cleansed  from  his  sins;  he  had  still  need, 
in  the  face  of  the  Church,  to  be  exteriially  or  hap. 
tis mally  regGner?iied  and  thus  mystically  ov  jigu. 
ratively  washed  from  his  impurities.* 

A  fourth  instance  may  well  be  deemed  suffi- 
cient to  complete  the  argument ;  that  of  the 
pious  Nathanael,  as  it  stands  recorded  by  St. 
John. 

After  Phihp  had  conversed  with  Jesus,  and 
was  satisfied  that  he  was  indeed  the  predicted 
Messiah,  he  forthwith  imparted  his  momentous 
discovery  to  Nathanael.  This  person,  sincere 
in  his  inquiries,  though  prejudiced  against  the 
country  of  our  Lord,  hastily  exclaimed,  Can  any 

*  Bp.  Hopkins's  Works,  p.  519. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         181 

good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth  ?  His  friend 
very  rationally  advised  him  to  come  and  see. 
To  this  he  assented  :  and  then  it  was,  that  Je- 
sus made  that  memorable  declaration  respect- 
ing him,  Behold  an  Israelite  indeed^  in  whom  is  no 
guile  !  A  short  conversation  with  the  object  of 
his  search  convinced  him,  that  Philip  had  judged 
rightly  as  to  the  character  of  our  Saviour :  and 
he  then  unreservedly  made  his  confession.  Rab- 
bi^ thou  art  the  Son  of  God,  thou  art  the  king  of 
Israel* 

The  whole  of  this  transaction  occurred  no 
doubt  previous  to  the  Baptism  of  Nathanael :  the 
question  therefore  is.  Was  he,  at  the  time  of  its 
occurrence,  a  regenerate  or  an  unregenerate 
man  ? 

Christ,  we  see,  pronounces  him  with  the  voice 
of  infallibility  to  have  been  an  Israelite  indeed. 
Now  I  see  not  what  we  can  understand  by  such 
an  expression  except  this  :  that  Nathanael  was 
an  Israelite,  not  merely  in  the  letter,  but  like- 
wise in  the  spirit ;  that  he  was  one  of  God's 
people,  not  solely  by  natural  descent  from  Ja- 
cob, but  likewise  by  internal  communion  with 
Jacob's  Lord.  The  expression  in  short  seems 
evidently  to  convey  the  identical  doctrine,  which 
St.  Paul  sets  forth  somewhat  more  at  large  : 

*  John  i.  43—49. 


182  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

He  is  not  a  Jew,  which  is  one  outwardly ;  neither 
is  that  Circumcision,  which  is  outward  in  the 
flesh:  hut  he  is  a  Jew,  which  is  one  inwardly  ; 
and  Circumcision  is  that  of  the  hf^art,  in  the  spirit 
and  not  in  the  letter,  whose  praise  is  not  of  men 
but  of  God*  If  then,  previous  to  his  Baptism, 
Nathanael  was  an  Israelite  indeed  or  an  Israelite 
internally,  as  contradistinguished  from  an  Israel- 
ite nationally  or  an  Israelite  externally :  he  clear- 
ly must  have  been  a  spiritual  child  of  God  ;  that 
is  to  say,  in  other  words,  he  must  have  been  re- 
generated by  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  such  is  de- 
clared by  our  Lord  himself  to  have  been  the 
condition  of  Nathanael  previous  to  his  Baptism. 
Therefore  he  must  have  been  regenerated  be- 
fore he  was  baptized.  Consequently,  Regen- 
eration is  NOT  inseparably  united  to  Baptism. 

Nor  do  either  the  ignorance  or  the  prejudice 
of  Nathanael  at  all  invalidate  this  conclusion. 
A  real  change  in  the  heart  and  the  affections 
may  undoubtedly  have  taken  place,  while  the 
intellect  is  as  yet  very  imperfectly  illuminated  : 
just  as,  conversely,  the  intellect  may  have  been 
speculatively  illuminated  in  a  very  high  degree, 
while  no  change  whatsoever  has  taken  place  in 
the  heart  and  the  affections.  Where  the  soul 
has  been  disposed  of  to  an  honest  and  sincere 

*  Rom.  ii.  28,  29. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.  183 

desire  of  serving  God,  though  as  yet  it  may  be 
considerably  in  the  dark  as  to  the  proper  mode  ; 
that  soul  has  manifestly  taken  the  first  step  in 
the  path  of  holiness  :  that  soul  therefore  has  cer- 
tainly been  born  again  from  above  ;  for  Regen- 
eration is  the  commencement  of  Sanctification. 
Such  was  the  case  of  Nathanael:  and,  in  his 
case,  as  in  all  other  similar  cases,  intellectual  il- 
lumination is  speedily  superadded  to  an  honest 
and  devout  purpose. 

(3.)  We  have  now  seen  from  direct  scriptural 
examples,  which  cannot  easily  be  gainsayed,  that 
Regeneration  sometimes  takes  place  before  Bap- 
tism, and  sometimes  without  any  Baptism  at  all 
administered  either  before  or  after  the  internal 
change.  If  then  an  instance  can  be  further  pro- 
duced of  a  person's  having  been  duly  baptized 
and  of  his  yet  remaining  unregenerate  notwith- 
standing his  Baptism,  the  argument,  I  conceive, 
will  be  as  complete  as  can  be  desired. 

In  the  same  book  of  the  Acts,  which  has  already 
furnished  us  with  three  examples,  the  remark- 
able history  of  Simon  Magus  stands  very  fully 
recorded.  Adopting  the  oriental  theology, 
which  taught  that  at  certain  successive  intervals 
the  universal  herogod  descends  from  heaven  and 
becomes  incarnate  in  a  mortal  figure,  this  per- 
son, we  are  told,  infatuated  the  people  of  Sama- 
ria, and  gave  out  that  he  himself  was  a  manifes- 


184         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

iation  of  the  great  father  or  of  the  great  diviae 
power.  The  Samaritans,  whose  worship  was  a 
strange  compound  of  Judaism  with  the  idolatry 
of  their  eastern  forefathers,*  readily  gave  heed 
to  him  ;  for  the  tenor  of  his  imposture  exactly 
chimed  in  with  their  national  superstition.  Such 
a  plan  no  doubt  was  highly  lucrative  to  him ; 
and  his  only  object  seems  to  have  been  to  ensure 
its  perpetuity.  Accordingly,  when  Philip  preach- 
ed the  things  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  when  he  con- 
firmed the  truth  of  his  mission  by  various  signs 
and  miracles,  Simon  was  astonished  at  his  super 
natural  powers  and  readily  believed  him  to  be  a 
genuine  messenger  of  Heaven.  This  led  to  his 
Baptism  :  but  his  motive  for  requesting  to  par- 
take of  that  holy  rite  soon  became  sufficiently  ap- 
parent. He  duly  continued  with  Philip  after  he 
had  been  baptized :  and  his  whole  attention  was 
occupied  by  the  astonishing  miracles  which  he 
daily  witnessed.  At  length  Peter  and  John 
themselves  were  sent  down  by  the  apostles  to 
complete  the  labours  of  Philip  :  and,  by  the  im- 
position of  their  hands,  the  extraordinary  gifts  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  were  communicated  to  tliose 
who  had  been  baptized.  Simon,  among  the 
rest,  appears  to  have  received  these  miraculous 

*  2  Kings  xvii.  24—41. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         183 

powers ;  but  he  was  not  content  without  also 
possessing  the  faculty  of  conferring  them  upon 
others.  Hence  he  offered  money  to  the  two 
apostles,  in  order  that  he  also  might  be  enabled 
to  confer  the  Holy  Ghost  on  whomsoever  he 
chose  to  lay  his  hands.  This  nefarious  propo- 
posal  called  forth  the  well- merited  rebuke  of 
St.  Peter — Thy  money  perish  with  thee,  because 
thou  hast  thought  that  the  gift  of  God  may  be  pur- 
chased with  money.  Thou  hast  neither  part  nor 
lot  in  this  matter  :  for  thy  heart  is  not  right  in  the 
sight  of  God.  Repent  therefore  of  this  thy  wick- 
edness, and  pray  God,  if  perhaps  the  thought  of 
thine  heart  7nay  be  forgiven  thee.  For  I  perceive, 
that  thou  art  in  the  gall  of  bitterness  and  in  the  bond 
of  iniquity.^' 

Such  is  the  history  of  Simon  :  we  have  now 
to  inquire,  whether  it  gives  us  any  warrant  for 
believing,  that  he  was  spiritually  regenerated  at 
the  precise  time  when  he  was  outwardly  bap- 
tized. 

It  will  obviously  strike  even  the  most  super- 
ficial observer,  that  the  character,  which  the  in- 
spired apostle  has  infallibly  given  us  of  the  bap- 
tized sorcerer,  is  not  the  character  of  one  who 
has  been  regenerated  by  the  Holy  Spirit :  for  it 
is  impossible  to  conceive,  that  one,   who   has 

*  Acts  viii.  20U-23. 

Faber»  25 


186         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

indeed  brought  out  of  darkness  into  God's  mar- 
vellous light,  should  yet  have  neither  part  nor 
lot  in  the  Gospel,  should  be  cursed  with  a  heart 
not  right  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  should  actually 
be  in  the  very  gall  of  bitterness  and  in  t!>e  very 
bond  of  iniquity.  A  person,  thus  described,  cer- 
tainly cannot,  in  the  judgment  of  St.  Peter,  have 
been  a  truly  regenerate  and  sanctified  believer.. 

But  it  may  be  said,  that  the  sorcerer  w^as  in- 
deed spiritually  regenerated  in  the  article  of  Bap- 
tism, but  that  unhappily  he  afterwards  fell  away 
from  his  high  privilege. 

To  judge  how  far  this  is  probable,  we  must  at- 
tend to  his  previous  conduct. 

Now  every  part  of  that  conduct  seems  most 
distinctly  to  prove,  that  the  man  from  first  to 
last  never  had  a  grain  of  true  religion,  but  that 
he  was  altogether  influenced  by  a  base  and  sor- 
did love  of  gain.  Before  the  descent  of  Philip, 
lie  had  established  a  lucrative  imposture  among 
the  besotted  Samaritans.  The  wonderful  mira- 
cles, not  the  pure  doctrines,  of  the  holy  deacon 
attracted  his  attention  :  and  the  mere  force  of 
evidence  compelled  him  theoretically  to  believe, 
that  he  conversed  with  a  servant  of  the  Most 
High  God.  In  hopes  of  acquiring  the  power  of 
working  such  miracles,  which  he  clearly  saw 
would  be  not  a  little  profitable  to  him,  and 
which  would  mightily  further  his  main  project 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         187 

of  a  gainful  theological  imposture,  he  readily 
submitted  to  be  baptized :  and,  having. thus  ob- 
tained a  creditable  introduction  to  Phihp,  he 
never  quitted  his  side.  But  why  did  he  thus 
continue  with  him  ?  Was  it,  that  he  might  in- 
cessantly hear  from  his  lips  the  w^ords  of  eternal 
life  ?  No  such  thing :  we  read  not  a  syllable  of 
his  zeal  for  instruction  or  of  his  ardent  aspira- 
tions after  holiness ;  but  we  are  told,  that  the 
new  convert  wondered,  beholding  the  miracles 
and  signs  which  were  done.  These  were  the 
lure,  which  attracted  him  to  Philip  :  these  were 
the  endowments,  v/hich  his  soul  thirsted  after. 
Presently  he  conversed  with  two  extraordinary 
men,  who  not  only  possessed  such  endowments 
themselves,  but  enjoyed  the  yet  more  wonder- 
ful power  of  communicating  them  to  others. 
And  now  the  cupidity  of  the  sorcerer  could  be 
no  longer  restrained.  Tour  holiness  I  want  not  : 
your  promises  of  a  blissful  immortality  I  regard 
not.  My  wishes  are  turned  to  far  different  ob- 
jects. Accept  my  money  ;  and  give  7ne  also  this 
power,  that  on  xvhomsoever  I  lay  hands  he  may 
receive  the  Holy  Ghost.  Having  acquired  this 
lucrative  faculty,  wealth  and  honour  and  empire 
lie  all  before  me.  The  whole  man  stands  here 
revealed  in  all  his  naked  deformity.  His  drift, 
from  beginning  to  end,  was  to  make  a  gainful 


188         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

merchandise  of  his  Baptism.  Not  the  slightest 
hint  is  given,  that  he  had  any  other  object  in 
view  :  not  a  single  feature  in  his  character 
evinces  any  change  of  heart.  From  first  to  last, 
the  man  is  consistent. 

To  suppose  indeed,  without  a  shadow  of  evi- 
dence, that  Simon  was  spiritually  regenerated  in 
Baptism  ;  that  he  then  became  altogether  a  new 
creature  ;  and  that  yet,  in  the  short  space  neces- 
sary for  the  news  of  Philip's  success  among  the 
Samaritans  to  be  conveyed  to  Jerusalem  and  for 
Peter  and  John  to  travel  into  Samaria,  he  should 
so  entirely  forfeit  his  recently  engrafted  char- 
acter, as  to  merit  the  tremendous  rebuke  of  the 
apostle  :  to  suppose  all  this,  in  direct  opposition 
to  the  obvious  purport  of  the  whole  history,  is 
to  suppose  such  a  monstrous  combination  of 
contrarieties,  such  an  astonishing  instance  of 
precipitate  depravity,  such  a  strange  leap  from 
the  highest  good  to  the  worst  evil,  as  must  needs 
make  bankrupt  the  faith  even  of  credulity  itself. 
Simon,  though  baptized,  was  plainly  never  re- 
generated. Like  the  early  antichrists  mention- 
ed by  St.  John,  one  of  whom  there  is  sufficient 
reason  to  believe  was  this  identical  sorcerer,  he 
went  out  from  the  faithful,  but  he  xvas  not  of 
them :  for,  if  he  had  been  of  them,  he  would  no 
doubt  have  continued  with  them  :  but  lie  xvent  out. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         189 

that  he  might  be  made  manifest  that  he  was  not 
ofthem.^ 

But,  if  the  baptized  Simon  was  never  regener- 
ated :  then  once  more  we  must  conclude,  that 
Baptism  and  Regeneration  are  not  inseparable. 

II.  The  sum,  in  short,  of  the  whole  argument 
may  be  reduced  to  the  following  syllogisms. 

I.  (1.)  Without  Regeneration  it  is  impossible 
to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven :  because 
Regeneration  is  the  commencing  point  of  Sanc- 
tification ;  and,  without  Holiness,  no  man  shall 
see  the  Lord. 

{%.)  But,  if  it  be  impossible  to  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  without  Regeneration ;  then 
all,  who  do  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
must  have  been  regenerated. 

(3.)  Now  the  penitent  malefactor  on  the  cross 
certainly  entered  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven ; 
because  Christ  himself  promised  that  he  should. 

(4.)  Therefore  the  penitent  malefactor  must 
have  been  previously  regenerated. 

(5.J  But  the  penitent  malefactor  was  never 
baptized. 

(6.)  Therefore  the  penitent  malefactor  was 
regenerated  without  the  intervention  of  Bap- 
tism. 

*1  Jobnii.  18,  19. 


190  The  Doctrine  of  Regerieration, 

(7.)  Consequently,  we  have  a  direct  scriptu- 
ral proof,  that  Baptism  and  Regeneration  are 
not  inseparable. 

3.  (1.)  If  it  can  be  shewn  that  a  person  has 
been  regenerated  before  Baptism ;  then  Baptism 
and  Regeneration  are  not  inseparably  united. 

(2.)  But  it  has  been  proved,  that  the  Centu- 
rion Cornelius,  the  devout  Lydia,  the  apostle  St. 
Paul,  and  the  guileless  Nathanael,  were  regene- 
rated before  Baptism. 

(3.)  Therefore  Baptism  and  Regeneration  are 
not  inseparably  united. 

3.  (1.)  If  it  can  be  proved,  that  any  person 
has  received  the  outward  visible  sign  of  Bap- 
tism, and  that  he  did  not  at  the  same  time  re- 
ceive the  inward  spiritual  grace  of  Regenera- 
tion ;  then  Baptism  and  Regeneration  are  not 
inseparable. 

(2.)  But  it  has  been  shewn,  that  Simon  Ma- 
gus was  duly  baptized,  and  yet  that  he  still  re- 
mained unregenerate. 

(3.)  Therefore  finally  Baptism  and  Regenera- 
tion are  not  inseparable. 

III.  Thus  it  appears  from  direct  scriptural  au- 
thority, that  Regeneration  may  subsist  without 
Baptism,  and  that  Baptism  may  subsist  without 
Regeneration. 

Hence  it  will  follow,  that  Regeneration  may 
take  place  at  any  indefinite  point  of  a  man's  life ; 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         191 

either  before  Baptism,  or  in  the  article  of  Bap- 
tism, or  after  Baptism.  This  great  change  of 
heart  must  indeed  be  necessarily  experienced  by 
every  fallen  creature,  in  order  to  his  entering 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven :  because,  without 
such  a  change,  it  is  impossible  in  the  very  nature 
of  things,  that  he  could  enjoy  happiness  in  the 
presence  of  a  holy  God.  But  to  assert,  that  Re- 
generation is  so  inseparably  tied  to  Baptism  that 
all  the  baptized  are  regenerate  and  all  the  imbap- 
tized  imregenerate,  that  Regeneration  therefore 
invariably  takes  place  in  the  article  of  Baptism^ 
and  consequently  that  it  is  nugatory  to  expect  any 
spiritual  Regeneration  after  the  outward  rite  of 
Baptism  has  been  duly  administered :  to  assert 
such  a  theory  as  this  is  to  advocate  a  mere  un- 
authorized human  speculation,  which  rests  not 
on  a  more  solid  basis  than  the  Transubstantiation 
of  the  Romanists,  and  which  is  alike  irreconcile- 
able  with  Experience  and  with  right  Reason  and 
with  Analogy  and  with  Scripture. 


SERMON  VII. 


THE   DOCTRINE    OF   REGENERATION,    ACCORDING    TO   SCRIP- 
TURE AND  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND. 


ROMANS   II.    28,    29, 

He  is  not  a  Jew,  which  is  one  outwardly  ;  neithei'  is  that 
circumcision^  which  is  outxvard  in  the  Jlesh  :  but  he  is  a 
Jew,  which  is  one  inwardly ;  and  circumcision  is  that 
of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit,  ajid  not  in  the  letter  ;  wlwse 
praise  is  not  of  men,  but  of  God. 

IT  has  now  been  shewn  at  large,  that  the  doc- 
trine of  the  inseparability  of  Baptism  and  Rege- 
neration is  a  fond  notion,  which  will  not  bear 
the  test  of  sober  inquiry,  and  which  bids  defi- 
ance alike  to  Experience  and  right  Reason  and 
Analogy  and  Scripture.  Here,  therefore,  so  far 
as  the  general  interests  of  truth  are  concerned, 
the  argument  might  well  be  closed  ,•  for,  if  the 
doctrine  in  question  be  advocated  or  maintain- 
ed by  any  jpar^icz^/ar  church,  such  a  circumstance 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         193 

would  indeed  prove  that  church  to  be  in  error, 
but  it  neither  would  nor  could  prove  an  unortho- 
dox doctrine  to  be  an  orthodox  one.  Yet, 
though  nothing  more  (it  is  trusted)  need  be  said 
for  the  satisfaction  of  a  member  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  it  may  be  desirable  to  push  the  inquiry 
somewhat  further  for  the  satisfaction  of  many 
who  profess  themselves  members  of  the  Church 
of  England. 

Nothing  is  more  common  in  the  present  day, 
than  to  hear  it  asserted  with  equal  confidence 
and  pertinacity,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  insepara- 
bility of  Baptism  and  Regeneration  is  the  genu^ 
ine  doctrine  of  the  Anglican  Church,  that  those 
who  oppose  it  are  unsound  members  of  that 
Church,  that  their  opposition  is  the  mere  effer- 
vescence of  a  heated  imagination,  and  that  it 
cannot  for  one  moment  be  made  good  on  the 
principles  of  calm  and  sober  scriptural  reason- 
ing. 

As  for  the  last  part  of  the  assertion,  we  have 
seen,  with  what  perfect  facility  it  may  be  retort- 
ed upon  those,  who  perhaps  somewhat  too  in- 
cautiously have  indulged  themselves  in  the  ha- 
bit of  making  it :  we  have  seen,  that  it  is  in  fact 
the  doctiine  of  the  inseparability  of  Baptism  and 
Regeneration^  not  the  doctrine  of  their  separabi- 
lity^ which  cannot  be  maintained  on  the  ground 
either  of  Scripture  or  of  right  Reason :  we  have 

Faher,    26 


194         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

seen,  that  it  is  the  former  tenet,  not  the  latter^ 
which  is  convicted  of  resting  on  a  not  more  solid 
basis  than  a  mere  unrestrained  imagination  ;  for, 
if  we  assert  a  point,  which  we  can  prove  neither 
from  Scripture  nor  from  Experience,  I  see  not 
by  what  better  foundation  such  an  assertion  is 
supported  than  an  unchastised  superstitious 
fancy. 

Let  us  now  therefore  proceed  to  consider  the 
former  part  of  the  often  made  assertion  before 
us :  namely,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  inseparahility 
of  Baptism  and  Regeneration  is  the  genuine  doc- 
trine of  the  Anglican  Church, 

I.  The  reformers  of  our  national  church  were 
men  of  great  good  sense,  of  exemplary  piety, 
and  of  a  deep  acquaintance  with  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. Hence  we  must  not  lightly  believe,  that 
they  maintained  a  doctrine  marked  with  such 
very  extraordinary  characteristics  as  that  before 
us. 

1.  The  ground  usually  taken  by  those  who 
assert  the  inseparahility  of  Baptism  and  Regene- 
ration to  be  the  genuine  doctrine  of  the  Church 
of  England,  is  a  peculiar  phraseology  which  per- 
vades the  whole  of  her  baptismal  services. 

Previous  to  the  administration  of  the  sacra- 
ment itself,  she  directs  the  officiating  minister  to 
call  upon  God  in  behalf  of  the  infant  about  to 
be  baptized,  that  he^  coming  to  his  holy  Baptism. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         195 

7nay  receive  remission  of  his  sins  by  spiritual  Re- 
geiieration :  and  she  further  teaches  him  to  pray, 
that  the  same  gracious  Being  would  give  his  Holy 
Spirit  to  the  infant^  that  he  may  he  horn  again 
and  be  made  an  heir  of  everlasting  salvation.  When 
the  ceremony  has  been  performed,  the  minister 
is  required  to  ask  the  prayers  of  the  congrega- 
tion, that  the  child  may  lead  the  rest  of  his  life  ac- 
cording to  this  beginning  ;  on  the  express  ground 
that  the  child  is  now  regenerate  and  grafted  into 
the  body  of  ChrisPs  Church.  And  lastly,  in  per- 
fect concordance  with  the  charge,  he  is  enjoined 
to  return  thanks  to  Almighty  God  for  the  great 
and  good  work  which  has  been  wrought  in  the 
infant  at  Baptism :  We  yield  thee  hearty  thanks^ 
most  merciful  Father^  that  it  hath  pleased  thee  to 
regenerate  this  infant  with  thy  Holy  Spirit^  to  re- 
ceive him  for  thine  own  child  by  adoption^  and  to 
incorporate  him  into  thy  holy  Church.  The  office 
for  adult  Baptism  is  marked  by  an  exactly  simi- 
lar phraseology  :  so  that,  whatever  applies  to 
the  one,  applies  equally  to  the  other. 

Now  it  is  argued,  that,  since  the  minister  first 
prays  that  the  person  about  to  be  baptized  may 
be  regenerated,  since  he  then  proceeds  to  baptize 
him,  and  since  he  next  immediately  afterwards 
returns  thanks  to  God  for  having  regenerated 
him  :  it  is  argued,  that,  in  the  judgment  of  the 
Anglican  Church  as  expressed  in  these  offices, 


196         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

the  Regeneration  of  every  baptized  subject  takes 
place  in  the  article  of  Baptism. 

S.  This  argument  is  sufficiently  plausible ; 
and  I  have  endeavoured,  in  my  statement  of  it, 
to  give  it  all  the  force  tliat  I  can  :  perhaps,  how- 
ever, on  examination,  it  may  turn  out  to  be  more 
plausible  than  solid. 

That  Baptism  is  the  outward  sign  of  Regene- 
ration, and  that  Regeneration  may  son^etimes 
take  place  at  Baptism,  is  denied,  I  believe,  by  no 
one :  neither,  I  apprehend,  will  it  be  denied, 
that  the  public  officers  of  a  national  Church  must 
inevitably  be  composed  in  general  terms.  Now 
the  pious  framers  of  our  Liturgy  could  not  pos- 
sibly determine,  whether  this  or  that  particular 
baptized  infant,  either  in  their  own  days  or  in 
the  days  which  have  followed  them,  was  or  was 
not  likewise  regenerated  in  Baptism :  and  as 
little  could  any  individual  priest  speak  positively 
on  the  subject.  Neither  again  could  the  framers 
of  our  Liturgy  ascertain,  wliether  this  or  that 
particular  baptized  adult  to  the  end  of  time 
would  or  would  not  be  also  regenerated  in  Bap- 
tism :  nor,  as  they  well  knew,  would  it  have 
been  prudent  in  them  to  devolve  upon  the  clergy 
the  difficult  and  invidious  task,  of  deciding  upon 
the  spiritual  state  of  each  adult  immediately 
after  his  Baptism  whether  he  had  or  had  not  been 
then  regenerated,  and  of  discretioupjly  varying 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         197 

the  conclusion  of  the  service  accordingly.  On 
this  obvious  principle  then  our  baptismal  offices 
have  been  composed.  The  outward  visible  sign 
admits  the  catechumen  into  the  visible  Church 
of  Christ:  the  inward  spiritual  grace  admits  him 
into  that  invisible  Church,  which  consists  of 
those  only  who  have  been  sanctified  by  the 
Blessed  Spirit.  But  the  former  is  confessedly 
the  symbol  of  the  latter :  and  the  two  may, 
without  doubt,  be  received  at  the  same  time. 
Hence,  as  it  were  both  dangerous  and  endless  to 
subject  the  baptismal  offices  to  be  perpetually 
altered  at  the  discretion  of  the  priest,  so  as  lite- 
rally to  suit  this  or  that  particular  case ;  the 
Church,  in  the  judgment  and  hope  of  charity, 
speaks  generally  of  all  the  baptized  as  being 
likewise  regenerated. 

(1.)  In  adopting  this  principle,  which  in  fact 
is  the  only  principle  that  can  be  adopted  in  con- 
structing offices  designed  for  pubhc  use,  she  is 
sanctioned,  both  by  the  high  authority  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  by  that  ordinary  phraseology  which  is 
perfectly  familiar  to  us  in  secular  affairs. 

St.  Paul  addresses  one  of  his  public  epistles 
to  AJaiLthat  be  in  Roi?ie,  beloved  ofGod^  called  to  be 
saints.*  Another  of  them  he  addresses  unto 
the  Church  of  God  which  is  at  Corinth^  to  them 

*  Rom.  i.  7. 


198         The  Doctrine  of  Regeiieration, 

that  are  sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus,  called  to  he 
saints.*  A  third  he  addresses  to  the  saints  which 
are  at  Ephesus ;  whom,  in  conjunction  with  him- 
self, he  characterizes,  without  any  exception,  as 
persons  whom  God  hath  chosen  in  Christ  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world  tliat  they  should  he  holy 
and  without  hlame  before  him  in  love:  whence  he 
speaks  to  them  all,  still  without  any  exception, 
as  those  whom  God  hath  quickened,  xvho  were  dead 
in  trespasses  and  si?is.f  And  a  fourth  he  addresses 
to  the  Church  of  the  Thessalonians,  which  is  in 
God  the  Father  and  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  ad- 
ding immediately  afterwards.  We  give  thanks  to 
God  always  for  you  all,  knowing  brethren  he- 
loved,  your  election  of  God.X  Exactly  the  same 
general  phraseology  is  employed  by  St.  Peter. 
He  addresses  the  first  of  his  epistles  to  the  stran- 
gers scattered  throughout  the  Pontus,  Galatia, 
Cappadocia,  Asia,  and  Bithynia,  elect  according 
to  the  foreknowledge  of  God  the  Father,  through 
sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  unto  obedience  and 
spririkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ :  he  then 
blesses  God  for  having  begotten  us  again,  namely 
both  himself  and  them  without  specifying  a  sin- 
gle exception,  unto  a  lively  hope  by  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead,  to  an  inherit^ 
ance  incorruptible  and  undefiled :  and  he  after- 

*  1  Corinth,  i.2.     j  Ephes.  i.  1,4.  ii.  1.     \  1  Thess.  i.  1,2,4. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         199 

wards  speaks  of  them  all,  as  having  purified 
their  souls  in  oheying  the  truth  through  the  Spitit  ; 
and  as  being  born  again,  not  of  corruptible  seed, 
but  of  incorruptible,  by  the  word  of  God  which 
liveth  and  abidethfor  ever.^ 

Now,  without  prying  too  curiously  into  the 
strict  meaning  of  the  word  elect,  and  without  at 
all  pledging  ourselves  to  adopt  what  is  styled  the 
Calvinistic  interpretation  of  the  term  ;  it  is  im- 
possible not  to  see,  that  these  various  communi- 
ties of  Christians  are  all  alike  described,  as  be- 
ing thus  imiversally  circumstanced,  without  any 
provisions  or  individual  exceptions  whatsoever. 
Are  we  then  hastily  to  conclude,  from  the  ge- 
neralized phraseology  of  these  public  documents, 
that  ALL  in  Home  were  beloved  of  God  and  called 
to  be  saints  ?  Kyq  we  to  conclude,  that  every 
member  of  the  Corinthian  Church  was  sanctified 
in  Christ  Jesus  ?  Are  we  to  conclude,  that  all 
the  Ephesians  were  chosen  in  Christ  that  they 
should  be  holy :  that  all,  without  a  single  excep- 
tion, were  of  the  number  of  those  whom  God 
hath  quickened?  Are  we  to  conclude,  that, 
when  the  apostle  gave  thanks  for  all  the  Thes- 
salonians  professing  himself  to  know  assuredly 
their  election  of  God,  his  intention  was  to  inti- 
mate that  their  Church  contained  not  one  un- 

*  1  Peter  i.  1,2,  3,4,  .'32,  23. 


SOO  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

regenerate  and  unsound  meml)er  ?  Or  lastly  are 
we  to  conclude  from  the  sweeping  phraseology 
of  St.  Peter,  that  all  the  strangers,  scattered 
through  many  extensive  provinces,  had  purified 
their  souls  in  obeying  the  truth  through  the  Spirit, 
had  been  born  again,  and  had  been  elected  through 
sanctification  of  the  Spirit  unto  obedience  ?  It  is 
to  be  feared,  that,  neither  ecclesiastical  histo- 
ry nor  the  many  sharp  reprimands  scattered 
through  the  apostolical  letters  will  warrant  any 
such  wild  and  incredible  inference.  Heresy  and 
corruption  existed  from  the  very  beginning :  yet, 
if  we  torture  the  general  phraseology  of  Peter 
and  Paul  into  a  strictly  individual  sense,  as 
some  would  torture  the  ViwAx^A  general  phrase- 
ology of  the  Anglican  baptismal  offices  ;  we  may 
easily  prove,  that  in  the  golden  age  of  the  Ca- 
tholic Church  not  a  single  member  made  ship- 
wreck of  the  faith.  We  have  merely  to  adopt 
the  same  mode  of  reasoning,  which  has  been 
deemed  so  conclusive  in  the  case  of  the  baptis- 
mal  offices,  and  the  matter  is  accomplished.  An 
English  clergyman  speaks  of  every  baptized 
child,  as  having  been  regenerated  :  therefore,  in 
the  judgment  of  the  Anglican  Church  every 
baptized  child  is  regenerated.  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul  speak  of  every  member  in  the  several 
churches  which  they  address,  as  having  been 
born  again  and  sanctified  by  the  Spirit  and  elect- 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.  201 

ed  to  eternal  salvation  through  the  medium  of  a 
holy  obedience  :  therefore  every  member  in 
those  several  churches  was  a  truly  religious 
person,  and  has  infallibly  been  admitted  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  If  one  of  these  conclu- 
sions be  valid,  the  other  is  equally  so  :  and,  if 
one  of  them  be  invalid,  the  solidity  of  the  other 
cannot  be  much  depended  upon. 

The  fact  is,  that  in  both  cases  general  phrase- 
ology is  employed,  as  it  ever  must  be  employed, 
in  public  documents  :  and  so  universal  is  this 
rule,  that  it  applies  to  secular  matters  just  as 
much  as  to  religious.  If  we  were  gravely  to  ar- 
gue, that,  in  the  undoubted  judgment  of  the 
king  and  his  ministers,  there  was  not  so  much 
as  a  single  disaffected  person  in  this  happy  land, 
because  its  sovereign  in  general  proclamations 
chara'cterizes  all  his  subjects,  without  any  ex- 
ception, as  equally  loving :  if,  I  say,  we  were 
thus  gravely  to  argue,  what  might  be  thought  of 
the  cogency  of  our  reasoniiig,  the  principle  of 
our  argument  would  be  the  very  same  as  the 
principle  of  that  redoubted  argument,  which  has 
been  thought  irrefragably  to  prove  that  the  doc- 
trine  of  the  inseparability  of  Baptism  and  Regen- 
eration is  the  true  doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
England. 

(2.)  General  phraseology,  as  might  naturally 
be  expected,  is  by  no  means  exclusively  charac- 

Faber.  %7 


202         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

teristic  of  the  baptismal  offices  :  it  more  or  less 
pervades  all  the  public  documents  of  the  Church ; 
and,  in  each  instance,  common  sense  teaches  us 
that  it  must  be  interpreted  in  the  same  manner. 

Thus  every  child,  without  exception,  is  taught 
in  the  Catechism  to  profess  his  belief  in  God  the 
Holy  Ghost  who  sanctijieth  him  and  all  the  elect 
people  of  God :  but  are  we  thence  perversely  to 
set  it  down  as  the  sober  opinion  of  our  Church, 
that  every  child,  who  repeats  the  Catechism,  is 
sanctified  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and  fitted  through 
obedience  to  enter  into  eternal  life  ?  Woeful 
experience  proves  but  too  decisively,  that 
many  a  child  duly  repeats  this  passage  who  ex- 
hibits not  the  least  evidence  of  Sanctification. 

Thus  every  person,  who  partakes  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  is  taught  to  say  with  the  congre- 
gation, We  do  earnestly  repent^  and  are  heaiiily 
sorry  for  these  our  misdoings  ;  the  remembrance 
of  them  is  grievous  unto  us ;  the  burden  ofthemis 
intolerable  :  but  are  we  thence  to  argue  with  ab- 
surd solemnity,  that  the  Church  clearly  main- 
tains every  communicant,  no  matter  what  the 
general  tenor  of  life  is,  to  be  animated  by  these 
truly  Christian  sentiments  ?  The  truth  is,  that 
all  she  ascribes  to  her  members  sentiments, 
which  as  regenerate  behevers  they  all  ought  to 
feel,  not  which  they  all  really  do  feel. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,  203 

Thus  again,  in  the  burial  service,  the  priest, 
in  the  name  of  the  congregation,  gives  hearty 
thanks  to  God,  for  that  it  hath  pleased  him  to  de- 
liver this  our  brother  out  of  the  miseries  of  this 
sinful  world  ;  and  beseeches  him,  that  he  woidd 
shortly  accomplish  the  number  of  his  elect  and  has- 
his  kingdom  :  but  are  we  from  such  phraseolo- 
gy to  contend,  that,  in  the  deliberate  judgment 
of  the  Anglican  Church,  every  person,  commit- 
ted to  the  dust  by  one  of  their  ministers,  would 
indubitably  be  such  a  gainer  by  his  death,  as  to 
have  reason  to  rejoice  that  he  had  been  deliver- 
ed from  the  miseries  of  this  sinful  world  ?  The 
gross  absurdity  of  such  an  inference  is  imme- 
diately perceived  :  yet  it  is  by  an  exactly  simi- 
lar process,  that  the  Church  is  demonstrated  to 
uphold  the  unscriptural  doctrine  of  the  insepa- 
rability of  Baptism  and  Regeneration,  Every 
baptized  person  is  spoken  of,  as  regenerate  : 
every  buried  person  is  spoken  of,  as  having  ex- 
changed this  world  for  a  better.  Hence,  if  we 
conclude  that  the  Church  really  maintains  the 
actual  Regeneration  of  every  baptized  person  ; 
I  see  not  how  we  can  consistently  avoid  con 
eluding  also,  that  the  Church  really  maintains 
the  actual  salvation  of  every  one  who  receives 
what  is  styled  Christian  burial.  As  the  premi- 
ses are  in  both  cases  alike,  the  conclusions  must 
in  both  cases  be  the  same. 


204         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

II.  We  must  not  however  forget,  that  the  bap- 
tismal oflices  are  not  the  ivhole  Liturgy,  and 
that  even  tlie  whole  Liturgy  is  by  no  means  the 
only  public  authorized  document  of  the  Church 
of  England.     She   employs   other  prayers,   as 
well  as  those  contained  in  the  baptismal  offices  : 
and,  in  addition  to  the  entire  Liturgy,  she  has 
likewise  put  forth  a  brief  Catechism  for  the  sys- 
tematic instruction  of  her  younger  members,  a 
regular  body  of  well-digested  Articles,  and  two 
codes  of  more  copiously  explanatory  Homilies. 
We  must  therefore  attend  to  other  parts  of  the 
Liturgy,  as  well  as   to   the   baptismal   offices. 
Nor  is  this  all.     As  the  additional  documents, 
which  accompany  the  Liturgy,  profess  to  give  a 
complete  systematic  statement  of  the  theologi- 
cal tenets  which  she  has  judged  it  proper  to 
adopt :  we  must  obviously,  should  the  Liturgy  be 
less    explicit  or  somewhat   ambiguous,  rather 
have  recourse  to  them  for  an  accurate  and  scho- 
lastic exposition  of  her  doctrines,  than  to  the 
more  popular  and  less  definite  composition  of  a 
form  of  prayer.     Hence,  if  there  be  any  appa- 
rent  difference  between  the  several  documents 
of  the  Anglican  Church,  we  ought  to  gather  her 
genuine  doctrines,  rather  from  those  writings  in 
which  she  specially   professes  to  define  them 
with  logical  accuracy,  than  from  those  which 
are  of  a  more  loose  and  popular  nature.     I  mean 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,     .   205 

not  to  say,  that  there  is  any  real  discrepance  5 
for  the  passages  in  tlie  baptismal  offices  ought 
manifestly,  I  think,  to  be  understood  in  the 
sense  which  I  have  ascribed  to  them  :  but  I 
would  without  hesitation  assert,  that,  supposing 
there  to  be  a  real  discrepance,  we  ought  to  de- 
duce the  fixed  sentiments  of  our  Church  from 
the  Catechism  and  the  Articles  and  the  Homi- 
lies, rather  than  from  any  particular  office  in  the 
Liturgy. 

Now,  in  these  more  scholastic  compositions, 
we  either  find  a  total  silence  preserved  respect- 
ing the  alleged  inseparability  ofBaptism  and  Re- 
generation, or  we  find  a  doctrine  in  perfect  op- 
position to  such  a  theory  expressly  advanced. 
And  again,  in  certain  parts  of  the  Liturgy,  we 
may  observe  petitions  framed  upon  the  mani- 
fest adoption  of  a  theory  quite  the  reverse  of 
that,  which  has  too  hastily  been  thought  to  be 
supported  by  the  phraseology  of  the  baptismal 
offices. 

1.  The  Church  of  England,  being  fully  aware 
that  many  of  her  adult  members  may  not  yet 
have  been  spiritually  regenerated  though  in 
their  infancy  they  have  been  regularly  baptized 
with  water,  has  judiciously  provided  in  her  Li- 
turgy more  than  a  single  prayer  for  that  radical 
change  of  heart,  which  our  Lord  styles  a  Kew 
Birth, 


206         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

(1.)  One  of  these  petitions  will  be  found  in 
the  Collect  for  the  Circumcision  of  Christ. 

Almighty  God,  who  madest  thy  blessed  Son  to 
be  circumcised  and  ohedierit  to  the  Law  for  man, 
GRANT  US  the  true  circumcision  of  the  Spirit  ; 
that,  our  heaHs  and  all  our  members  being  mor- 
tified from  all  wmidly  and  carnal  lusts,  we  may 
in  all  things  obey  thy  blessed  will,  through  the 
same  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

In  this  excellent  prayer,  persons,  who  have 
been  long  since  outwardly  baptized,  are  yet  di- 
rected to  supplicate  the  Almighty,  that  he  would 
GRANT  to  them  the  true  Circumcision  of  the 
Spirit.  Now  what  is  that  Circumcision  of  the 
Spirit,  to  wiiich  the  Church  here  alludes  ?  It 
may  seem  almost  like  mere  trifling  to  go  about 
formally  to  demonstrate  its  identity  with  Spirit- 
ual Regeneration:  yet,  rather  than  any  thing 
should  be  omitted,  I  will  readily  submit  to  this 
charge. 

The  Church,  in  the  Collect  now  before  us^ 
defines  Spiritual  Circumcision  to  be  a  mortifi- 
cation or  A  deadening  of  our  hearts  and  mem- 
bers from  all  worldly  and  carnal  lusts.  But  this 
is  the  precise  definition,  which  she  likewise 
gives  of  Spiritual  Regeneration.  For  she  states 
the  inward  and  spiritual  grace,  symbolized  by 
the  outward  and  literal  washing  of  the  baptis- 
mal water,  to  be  a  death  or  a  mortification 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.        207 

unto  sin  and  a  new  birth  unto  righteousnes  .-* 
and  she  instructs  her  clergy  to  pray  in  behalf  of 
every  child  brought  to  be  baptized,  that  all  car- 
nal affections  may  die  in  him  ;  and  that  he^  be- 
ing DEAD  unto  sin,  may  crucify  the  old  man  and 
utterly  abolish  the  whole  body  of  sin.-\  But,  if  in 
the  judgment  of  the  Church  Spiritual  Circumci- 
sion and  Spiritual  Regeneration  be  alike  a  death 
unto  sin  or  a  mortification  of  the  heart  from 
all  worldly  and  carnal  lusts ;  then  they  must 
plainly  be  mutually  the  same  with  each  other. 
Accordingly,  by  way  of  distinctly  shewing  what 
her  judgment  is  in  this  matter,  she  has  aptly  se- 
lected, as  a  proper  lesson  for  the  festival  of  the 
Circumcision,  the  second  chapter  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans  ;  in  which  St.  Paul  specially  sets 
forth  the  difference  between  outward  Circumci- 
sion in  the  flesh  and  that  inward  Circumcision  of 
the  heart  which  had  already  been  insisted  upon 
by  Moses  and  the  prophets.  It  has  however 
been  the  unanimous  opinion  of  all  her  best  di-. 
vines,  that  literal  Circumcision  corresponds  with 
literal  Baptism,  and  Spiritual  Circumcision  with 
Spiritual  Regeneration.^  Nor  can  (here  be  the 
least   doubt,   that  St.  Paul,  and  the  Church  of 

*  Catechism.  j  Baptismal  Office. 

\  See  Bp.  Burnet  on  the  xxxix  Articles.  Art.  XXVII.  Bp. 
Hall's  Works.  Dec.  v.  Epist.  4,  Abp.  Usher's  Body  of  Di- 
vin.  p.  388,  394. 


208         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

England  after  him,  consider  the  two  under  this 
identical  aspect. 

When  that  Church  therefore  provides  a  prayer 
POR  Spiritual  Circumcision,  she  in  effect  pro- 
vides a  prayer  for  Spiritual  Regeneration.  But 
it  is  plainly  her  intention,  that  this  prayer  should 
be  used  by  those  baptized  adult  members  of  her 
communion,  to  whose  case  it  may  be  suitable. 
Now  in  this  prayer  she  directs  those  baptized 
adult  members  of  her  communion  to  supplicate 
God,  that  he  would  grant  to  them  the  grace  of 
Spiritual  Regeneration.  If  then  she  directs  them 
to  pray  for  Regeneration,  she  must  inevitably 
suppose  them  to  be  as  yet  destitute  of  it.  But 
the  members,  whom  she  thus  directs  to  pray,  are 
BAPTIZED  ADULTS.  Therefore,  in  thc  judgment 
of  the  English  Church,  many  persons  may  have 
been  outwardly  baptized  in  their  infancy,  with- 
out being  inwardly  circumcised  or  regenerated 
by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

It  is  worthy  of  observation,  that  this  Collect, 
like  the  baptismal  offices,  is  couched  in  general 
terms.  Hence,  if  we  are  to  argue  from  the 
phraseology  of  the  Baptismal  offices,  that  all 
baptized  persons  are  regenerate  ;  we  may  just 
as  well  argue  from  the  phraseology  of  the  Col- 
lect, that  NO  baptized  persons  are  regenerate. 
The  collect  is  appointed  to  be  used  by  the  inin- 
ister  and  the  whole  congregation  oi  every  parish- 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.  209 

chuixh  throughout  the  realm  of  England.     Con- 
sequently, if  we  think  fit  to  argue,  that  the  Col- 
lect is  appointed  to  be  generally  used ;  that  it 
contains  a  petition  for  Spiritual  Regeneration  ; 
that  the  offering  up  of  such  a  prayer  necessarily 
implies,  that  all  who  use  it  are  destitute  of 
Spiritual  Regeneration ;  and  therefore  that  all 
the  members  of  the  English  Church  thus  using 
it,  are  manifestly,  in  the  judgment  of  that  Church, 
thus  DESTITUTE  :  if,  I  say,  we  should  think  fit  to 
argue  in  such  a  manner  from  the  generalized. 
form  of  the  prayer  ;  we  should  argue  just  as 
those  persons  do,  who  from  the  phraseology  of 
the  baptismal  offices  would  prove,  that  in  the 
judgment  of  the  English  Church  all  the  bap- 
tized are  ipso  facto  regenerate.     The  absurdity 
of  this  mode  of  reasoning  appears  at  once,  if  we 
apply  it  to  the  Collect :  but,  why  it  should  be 
very  absurd  in  one  case,  and  very  wise  in  ano- 
ther, is   not  easy  to   comprehend.     Doubtless 
both  the  Collect  and  the  baptismal  offices  ought 
to  be  understood  in  the  very  same  generalized 
sense.     They  are  couched  indeed,  as  all  public 
liturgical  forms  must  be,  in  general  terms  :  but, 
in  their  strict  literal  import,  they  are  alike  appli- 
cable only  to  ^ar^icw/^tr  individuals.  The  Church 
no  more  means  to  teach  by  the  phraseology  of 
the  baptismal  offices,  that  all  the  baptized  are 
regenerate;  than  she  means  to  teach   by  the 
Faher,       %s 


SIO  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

phraseology  of  the  Collect  that  all  her  praying 
members  are  unregenerate. 

(3.)  The  tenor  of  the  Collect  for  the  Circum- 
cision will  teach  us,  how  we  ought  to  under- 
stand the  closely  connected  Collect  for  the  Na- 
tivity. 

Almighty  Gocl^  who  hast  given  us  thy  only  begot- 
ten  So?i  to  take  our  nature  upon  him  and  as  at  this 
time  to  be  bornofa  pure  virgin  ;  grant,  that  we, 
BEING  regenerate  and  made  thy  children  by  adop- 
tion and  grace,  may  daily  berenexvedby  thy  Holy 
Spirit,  through  the  same  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 

The  construction  of  this  prayer  is  somewhat 
ambiguous :  for  the  clause,  being  regenerate 
and  made  thy  children  by  adoption  and  grace, 
may  import,  either  a  petition  for  Regeneration, 
or  an  assertion  that  it  has  already  been  receiv- 
ed ;  according  as  the  participle  being  is  taken 
in  a  future  or  a  present  sense.  Those  there- 
fore, who  contend  for  the  inseparability  of  Bap- 
tism and  Regeneration,  contend  of  course  for  the 
retrospective  and  not  for  the  prospective  in- 
terpretation of  the  clause. 

Now  I  am  inclined  to  think,  that  the  closely 
parallel  Collect  for  the  Circumcision  will  go  a 
good  way  towards  settling  this  dispute.  That 
Collect  is  unambiguously  a  prayer  for  Regen- 
eration :  and  it  contains  a  clause  of  a  structure 
exactly   similar  to  the  litigated  clause  in  the 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,        Sli 

other  Collect  ;  our  hearts  and  all  our  members 
BEING  mortified  from  all  worldly  and  carnallusts. 
In  this  clause,  the  participle  being  bears   un- 
doubtedly a  future  sense  :  because  the  clause 
contains  a  definition  of  the  Spiritual  Circumci- 
sion,  FOR  which  supplication  is  made.     Hence 
there  is  at  least  a  strong  presumption,  that  the 
same  participle  being,  in  the  parallel  clause  of 
the  other  Collect,  was  meant  to  be  similarly  un- 
derstood in  a  future  sense  also.     But,  if  this  be 
the  case  ;  then,  so  far  as  that  presumption  avails, 
the  litigated  clause  in  the  Collect  for  the  Nativi- 
ty ought  to  be  interpreted  prospectively  and 
not  RETROSPECTIVELY  :  that  IS  to  Say,  the  Col- 
lect is  a  petition  for  Regeneration,  not  an  asser- 
tion that  all  who  use  it  are  already  regenerat- 
ed.     Accordingly,  the   venerable   Society   for 
promoting  Christian  Knowledge  judiciously  de- 
termine in  favour  of  the  prospective  sense  : 
as  we  may  unequivocally  gather  from  one  of 
their  authorized  tracts,  containing  an  alphabeti- 
cal table  of  the  Collects  reduced  under  proper 
heads,  in  which  the  Collect  for  the  Nativity  is 
described  as  being  a  prayer  for  Regeneration, 
The   same   likewise  is    the    determination  of 
Wheatley,  though  not  expressed  quite  so  defi- 
nitely :    for  he   says,   that  in  this    Collect  the 
Church  teaches  us  to  pray  that  we  may  be  par- 


g  i  3         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

takers  of  the  benefit  of  ChrisPs  birth.*  Now  the 
benefit,  specially  set  forth  in  the  Collect,  is  Re- 
generation. If  therefore  we  pray  for  that  ben- 
efit, we  of  course  pray  for  Regeneration.  And 
this  I  take  to  be  the  real  meaning  of  the  Collect, 
analogously  to  the  inuloubted  meaning  of  the  Col- 
lect for  the  Circumcision. 

2.  From  the  Liturgy,  let  us  pass  to  the  Cate- 
chism. 

(l.)  In  this  manual,  a  Sacrament  generally, 
and  therefore  no  doubt  i\\Q  particular  Sacrament 
of  Baptism,  is  defined  to  be  an  outrvard  and  vis- 
ible sign  of  a?!  inward  and  spiritual  grace^  given 
wito  lis,  ordained  by  Christ  himself  as  a  means 
whereby  we  receive  the  same  and  a  pledge  to  as- 
sure  us  thereof 

Neither  in  the  present  very  accurate  defini- 
tion, nor  in  any  thing  that  follows,  is  there  a  sin- 
gle syllable  advanced  respecting  a  pretended  in- 
separability of  the  outward  sign  and  the  inward 
grace.  In  the  case  of  each  Sacrament  alike,  the 
outward  sign  is  merely  pronounced  to  symbo- 
lize the  inward  grace.  As  to  their  inseparabili- 
ty, a  profound  silence  is  in  this  place  at  least  cer- 
tainly preserved.  They  are  not  indeed  denied 
to  be  inseparable,  but  neither  are  they  asserted 
to  be  so. 

^  Wheatley  on  the  Common  Prayer,  p.  193.  Oxon. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         213 

(2.)  Perhaps  however  it  may  be  said,  that  the 
outward  sign  is  specified  to  be,  not  only  a  mean 
whereby  we  receive  the  inward  grace,  but  like- 
wise a  pledge  to  assure  us  of  it.  Whence  it  may 
be  argued,  that  the  outward  sign  is  at  once,  a 
channel  X\\vo\x^  which  we  may  expect  to  receive 
the  inward  grace,  and  moreover  a  pledge  to  as- 
sure us  of  its  actual  reception.  But,  if  it  be  both 
one  and  the  other,  if  it  be  both  a  channel  for  re- 
ception and  a  pledge  of  reception ;  the  notion  of 
inseparahilitij  seems  at  any  rate  to  be  strongly 
implied  in  such  phraseology,  if  not  absolutely 
expressed  in  so  many  words. 

To  this  I  reply,  that  the  definition  before  us 
purports  to  be  the  definition  of  a  Sacrament  in 
general^  not  of  the  Baptismal  Sacrament  in  par- 
ticular :  hence  it  is  a  definition,  which  alike  res- 
pects both  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  ;  and 
consequently,  whatever  it  sets  forth,  touches  the 
one  just  as  much  as  the  other.  Such  being  the 
case,  if,  from  the  expressions  now  under  consi- 
deration, we  are  to  infer  the  inseparability  of  the 
outward  sign  and  the  inward  grace  in  Baptism ; 
we  are  equally  bound  to  infer  the  inseparability 
of  the  outward  sign  and  the  inward  grace  in  the 
Lord's  Supper :  and,  conversely,  if  we  are  not 
to  infer  from  them  the  inseparabihty  of  the  out- 
ward sign  and  the  inward  grace  in  the  Lord's 
Supper  5  then  neither  are  w^e  warranted  in  infer- 


S14  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

ring  from  them  the  inseparability  of  the  outward 
sign  and  the  inward  grace  in  Baptism.  But  the 
Church  positively  declares  it  to  be  her  judgment, 
that  the  outward  sign  in  the  Lord's  Supper  may 
be  received  without  any  participation  of  the  in- 
ward grace.*  Therefore  she  maintains,  that 
the  outward  sign  and  the  inward  grace  in  the 
Lord's  Supper  are  not  inseparable.  If  then  such 
be  her  opinion,  the  expressions  in  the  Catechism 
relative  to  the  outward  sign  in  a  Sacrament  in 
general  being  both  a  mean  of  receiving  the  in- 
ward grace  and  a  pledge  to  assure  us  of  its  actual 
reception,  cannot  possibly  be  meant  to  assert 
the  inseparahility  of  the  sign  and  the  grace :  be- 
cause this  interpretation  of  them,  by  proving  too 
much,  would  exhibit  the  Church  as^  palpably 
contradicting  herself.  For,  a  Sacrament  in  ge- 
neral being  the  subject  of  the  definition,  if  the 
expressions  in  question  assert  the  inseparahility 
of  the  sign  and  the  grace,  they  necessarily  as- 
sert it  in  the  case  of  each  Sacra7nent  in  particu- 
lar.  But  the  church  declares,  that  the  sign  and 
the  grace  are  not  inseparable  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. Therefore  the  expressions  in  question 
must  not  be  understood,  as  asserting,  in  the  case 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  their  inseparability.  But, 
if  they  assert  not  their  inseparahility  in  the  Lord's 

*  Art.  xxix. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.        2i5 

Supper,  then  neither  do  they  assert  their  insepa- 
raUlity  in  Baptism.  For  the  expressions  occur 
in  the  definition  of  a  Sacrament  in  general. 
Therefore  they  must  be  interpreted  homogene- 
ously in  regard  to  each  Sacrament  in  particular. 
For,  by  no  rule  of  sound  criticism,  can  we  be  al- 
lowed to  say,  that  the  expressions  assert  indeed 
the  inseparability  of  the  outward  sign  and  the  in- 
ward grace  in  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism,  but 
that  they  do  7iot  assert  the  inseparability  of  the 
outward  sign  and  the  inward  grace  in  the  Sa- 
crament of  the  hordes  Supper. 

(3.)  Thus  it  is  clear,  that  whatever  may  be 
the  purport  of  the  expressions  before  us,  they 
cannot  be  consistently  interpreted,  as  maintain- 
ing the  inseparability  of  the  outward  sign  and 
the  inward  grace  in  Baptism.  The  meaning  of 
them  therefore  I  take  to  be  this  :  that  in  each 
Sacrament  the  outward  sign  is  an  appointed  mean 
of  obtaining  the  inward  grace,  though  not  an  in- 
dispensable mean  ;  and  that  it  is  likewise  on  God's 
part  a  pledge,  that,  in  his  own  good  time,  and 
so  far  as  is  consistent  with  his  own  providen- 
tial dispensations,  he  will  superadd  the  inward 
grace.  More  than  this  we  cannot  allow  their 
meaning  to  be  :  because,  otherwise,  we  shall  be 
brouglit  to  the  absurdity  of  maintaining,  that  the 
bread  and  wine  in  the  Lord's  Supper  are  an  in- 
faiUble  pledge  to  tlie  wicked  who  receive  them 


316  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

that  they  shall  thereby  also  partake  of  the  in- 
ward grace. 

(4.)  So  far  then  as  the  Catechism  is  concern- 
ed, instead  of  the  inseparabihty  of  Baptism  and 
Regeneration  being  asserted^  it  is  in  effect  denied  : 
for,  as  in  a  general  definition  of  the  term  Sacra- 
ment Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  are  placed 
exactly  upon  the  same  footing  with  regard  to 
their  respective  signs  and  things  signified,  and 
as  in  the  Lord's  Supper  the  sign  and  the  thing 
signified  are  confessedly  7iot  inseparable ;  the  ob- 
vious inference  is,  that  we  are  to  understand 
such  also  to  be  the  case  with  the  Sacrament  of 
Baptism. 

3.  If  from  the  Catechism  we  proceed  to  the 
Articles,  our  search  for  the  pretended  insepara- 
bility of  the  outward  sign  and  the  inward  grace 
in  the  Baptismal  Sacrament  will  be  equally  fruit- 
less. 

The  Articles  furnish  us  with  two  definitions 
respecting  Baptism,  the  one  general,  and  the 
other  particular :  and  they  likewise  contain  an 
explanatory  statement,  which  alone  is  sufficient 
to  set  the  question  at  rest  for  ever. 

(l.)  The ^e^ze/'aZ  definition  regards  of  course 
both  Sacraments,  and  it  is  couched  in  the  follow- 
ing terms : 

Sacraments  ordained  of  Christ  be  not  only 
badges  or  tokens  of  Christian  mert^s  profession :  hut 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         2i7 

rather  they  be  certain  sure  witnesses  and  effectual 
sigjis  of  grace  and  God^s  good  will  towards  us,  by 
the  which  he  doth  work  invisibly  in  us,  and  doth 
not  only  quicken,  but  also  strengthen  and  confirm, 
our  faith  in  him.* 

On  this  definition  it  will  be  sufficient  to  re- 
mark, that,  being  2i  general  one,  no  argument 
can  be  deduced  from  it  to  prove  the  inseparabi- 
lity of  the  outward  sign  and  the  inward  grace  in 
the  one  Sacrament,  which  will  not  equally  prove 
their  inseparability  in  the  other  Sacrament.  But 
it  is  acknowledged,  that  they  are  yzoHnseparable 
in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  There- 
fore the  present  definition  cannot  be  adduced, 
as  proving  their  inseparability  in  the  Sacrament 
of  Baptism. 

(%.)  The  particular  definition,  which  regards 
Baptism  alone  runs  as  follows  : 

Baptism  is  not  only  a  sign  of  profession  and 
mark  of  difference,  tvhereby  Christian  men  are 
discerned  from  others  that  be  not  christened :  but 
it  is  also  a  sign  of  Regeneratio7i  or  Kew  Birth, 
whereby,  as  by  an  instrument,  they  that  receive 
Baptism  rightly  are  grafted  into  the  Church,  the 
promises  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins  and  of  our  adop- 
tion to  be  the  sons  of  God  by  the  Holy  Ghost  are 
visibly  signed  and  sealed,  faith  is  confirmed,  and 

*  Art.  XXV. 

Faber.  29 


218         The  Boctrine  of  Regeneration. 

grace  is  increased  by  virtue  of  prayer  unto  God.* 

In  this  definition  it  is  not  very  easy  to  discover 
any  assertion  of  tlie  necessary  inseparability  of 
Baptism  and  Regeneration :  if  however  some 
lynx-eyed  inquirer  should  fancy,  that  he  does 
discern  something  of  the  kind,  let  him  reconcile 
it,  if  he  be  able,  v^ith  the  explanatory  statement 
which  now  remains  to  be  brought  forward. 

(3.)  The  statement  is  this : 

The  Sacraments^  not  one  only,  but  both  the 
Sacraments :  the  Sacraments  were  not  ordained 
of  Christ  to  he  gazed  upon  or  to  he  carried  ahout, 
but  that  we  should  duly  use  them.  Aiid,  in  such 
ONLY  as  WORTHILY  rcceivc  the  same,  they  have  a 
wholesome  effect  and  operation :  but  they,  that 
receive  them  vNwonTnnuY,  purchase  to  themselves 
damnation.-\ 

Now  it  is  manifest,  that  in  this  statement  the 
unorthodox  doctrine  of  the  inseparability  of  the 
outward  sign  and  the  inward  grace  is  distinctly 
and  explicitly  disavowed.  For  we  are  positively 
assured,  that,  in  the  case  of  each  Sacrament,  not 
solely  the  Lord''s  Supper  but  Baptism  also :  we  are 
positively  assured,  that,  in  the  case  of  each  Sa- 
crament, a  wholesome  effect  is  produced  by  its 
administration  only  in  such  as  worthily  re- 
ceive the  same  :  whence  it  obviously  and  neces- 

*  Art.  xxvii.  f  Art.  xxv. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.        §19 

sarily  follows,  that  in  such  as  do  not  worthily 
receive  either  Sacrament  no  wholesome  effect 
is  produced  on  the  recipient  by  its  administra- 
tion. If  then  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism  be  un- 
worthily received,  no  wholesome  effect  (ac- 
cording to  this  explanatory  statement)  is  expe- 
rienced by  the  recipient :  in  other  words,  for 
such  only  can  be  the  sense  of  the  proposition, 
the  person  so  baptized  partakes  of  the  outward 
visible  sign  without  partaking  of  the  inward 
invisible  grace :  that  is  to  say,  he  is  baptized 
WITHOUT  being  regenerated.  But,  if  he  be  bap- 
tized WITHOUT  being  regenerated,  which  this 
authoritative  statement  of  the  Anglican  Church 
declares  to  be  the  case  with  him ;  then  it  is  the 
manifest  decision  of  that  Church,  that  Baptism 
and  Regeneration  are  not  necessarily  insepara- 
ble. 

From  such  a  decision  it  inevitably  follows, 
that  Regeneration,  so  far  from  being  indissolubly 
tied  to  Baptism,  may  take  place  in  the  soul  long 
after  Baptism  has  been  outwardly  administered 
to  the  body.  For,  otherwise,  what  would  be  the 
condition  of  the  man  who  had  been  unworthily 
baptized,  and  who  therefore  (agreeably  to  the 
statement  of  the  Church  now  before  us)  had  not 
been  regenerated  ?  Are  we  to  say,  that  such  a 
subject  is  utterly  incapable  of  any  future  Regene- 
ration 5  that  his  day  of  grace  irrevocably  passed 


220         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

away  at  Baptism ;  that,  as  he  was  not  then  re- 
generated, he  never  can  be  regenerated ;  and, 
consequently,  that,  as  he  never  can  be  regener- 
ated, he  nexwr  can  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  ?  Are  we  to  saddle  the  venerable 
Church  of  England  with  sucli  gross  and  impious 
absurdities  as  these  ?  Surely  not  :  but  what 
then  will  follow  ?  Why,  no  doubt,  the  conclu- 
sion, that  Regeneration  may  take  place  long  after 
the  outward  administration  of  Baptism.  The 
Church  supposes  the  case  of  an  unworthy  reci- 
pient of  Baptism  ;  and  determines  most  ration- 
ally, that  such  a  recipient  is  7iot  thereby  regener- 
ated. She  presumes  not  however  to  limit  God's 
mercy  :  nor  does  she  arrogantly  decide,  that 
this  recipient  of  the  external  sign  can  never  be 
regenerated  at  all,  because  he  has  certainly  not 
been  regenerated  in  the  article  of  Baptism.  On 
the  contrary,  she  leaves  us  to  infer,  as  common 
sense  requires  that  we  should  infer,  that  what  has 
hitherto  been  wanting  may  hereafter  be  supplied ; 
that  this  unregenerated,  though  baptized,  person 
may  at  some  future  period  become  regenerate  ; 
and  that  thus,  by  a  spiritual  New  Birth  to  which 
as  yet  he  has  been  a  stranger,  he  may  be  made 
meet  for  an  inheritance  with  the  glorified  saints. 
(4.)  Here  it  may  probably  be  said,  that  such 
an  expression  as  the  unworthy  reception  of  the 
Baptismal  Sacrament  can  only  relate  to  adults, 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,        221 

that  infants  cannot  be  baptized  unworthily^  and 
therefore  that  all  baptized  infants  must  also  be 
regenerated. 

To  this  it  might  be  sufficient  to  reply,  that  the 
person,  who  uses  such  an  argument,  does,  by 
his  very  use  of  it,  completely  give  up  the  lead- 
ing point  in  debate ;  namely,  that  Baptism  and 
Regeneration  are  so  necessarily  inseparable  that  it 
is  folly  to  expect  a?iy  Regeneration  subsequent 
TO  Baptism:  for,  being  compelled  to  acknow- 
ledge that  in  the  judgment  of  the  Anglican 
Church  an  adult  may  be  baptized  without  being 
regenerated,  he  merely  attempts  to  take  refuge 
behind  the  shield  of  Pedobaptism,  if  that  per- 
adventure  may  afford  him  a  temporary  shelter. 
Such  a  reply  would  be  sufficient :  but  I  shall  not 
let  the  matter  rest  here. 

Our  knowledge  both  of  the  divine  govern- 
ment and  of  the  nature  of  spirit  is  so  very  limit- 
ed, that  I  see  not,  how  we  can  peremptorily  de- 
termine beforehand  as  to  the  worthy  or  unwor- 
thy reception  of  Baptism  by  any  subject  accord- 
ing to  God^s  estimation  of  worthiness  or  unwor- 
thiness.  We  have  no  authority  that  I  am  aware 
of  for  dogmatically  asserting,  that  every  infant 
must,  from  the  mere  circumstance  of  its  infancy, 
be  a  worthy  recipient  of  Baptism.  Scripture 
and  the  Church  perfectly  concur  in  declaring 
with  one  mouth,  that  we  are  all  by  nature  born 


2SS         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

in  sin  and  the  children  of  xvrath,  and  that  we  con- 
tinue in  this  miserable  condition  until  we  are 
made  the  children  of  grace  by  a  death  unto  siii 
and  a  Kexv  Birth  unto  righteousness.  Now,  if 
such  be  the  state  of  all  infants  before  Regenera- 
tion, and  if  no  infants  are  regenerated  until  they 
be  baptized,  how  can  any  infant  whatsoever  be 
a  worthy  recipient  of  Baptism  ?  Each  infant 
plainly,  according  to  the  theory  which  makes 
Regeneration  the  immediate  consequence  of  Pe- 
dobaptism,  is  a  child  of  wrath  at  the  precise  mo- 
ment of  its  being  baptized  ;  because  the  act  of 
Baptism  immediately  precedes  the  communicat- 
ed grace  of  Regeneration.  But,  if  each  infant 
be  a  child  of  wrath  at  the  precise  moment  of  its 
being  baptized,  which  the  present  theory  neces^ 
sarily  makes  it  to  be :  an  infant,  thus  character- 
ized, cannot  be  a  worthy  recipient  of  Baptism  ; 
unless  we  allow,  that  a  person  may  be  at  once 
a  worthy  recipient  of  Baptism  and  a  child  of 
wrath,  which  (so  far  as  I  can  judge)  involves  a 
direct  contradiction.  Hence  it  is  manifest,  that, 
unless  we  can  prove  all  infants  to  receive  Bap- 
tism worthily,  we  shall  not  much  advance  the 
cause  of  truth  by  only  sturdily  asserting  that 
they  do  so  receive  it. 

For  my  own  part,  I  venture  not  to  pry  into 
the  mysteries  of  God's  moral  government,  nor 
do  I  pretend  to  solve  the  immense  difficulties 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,        223 

which  encompass  that  most  mtricate  problem : 
this  only  I  will  say,  that  the  experience  of  abso- 
lute matter  of  fact  determines,  that  all  baptized 
infants  are  not  regenerated. 

Our  Lord  has  furnished  us  with  a  sure  method 
of  judging  with  respect  to  character  ;  by  their 
fruits  shall  ye  know  them  :  and  his  apostle  has 
drawn  out  this  brief  sketch  into  a  full-length 
picture  by  exhibiting  to  us  at  large,  what  are  the 
deeds  of  the  flesh  and  what  the  fruits  of  the 
Spirit  ',  or,  in  other  words,  what  are  the  distin- 
guishing marks  of  the  unregenerate  and  what  of 
the  regenerate.* 

Now,  when  we  behold  duly  baptized  persons 
displaying  from  their  very  infancy  every  mark 
of  unregeneracy,  a  circumstance  the  complete 
reverse  of  being  uncommon  ;  how  can  we  rea- 
sonably believe,  that  they  have  ever  been  born 
again  of  the  Spirit  ?  To  suppose,  in  defiance  of 
all  evidence,  that  they  were  regenerated  while 
infants  at  Baptism,  but  that  their  Regeneration 
was  almost  immediately  afterwards  so  obliter- 
ated during  absolute  childhood  as  to  leave  not  a 
single  trace  behind ;  is  to  suppose,  that  God  acts 
altogether  in  vain,  that  he  stamps  indeed  his 
image  on  the  soul  but  that  he  suffers  it  to  be  ef- 
faced before  the  unhappy  subject  knows  his  right 

*  Galat.  V.  19—25. 


2S4  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

hand  from  his  left,  and  that  he  withdraws  his 
powerful  grace  ere  the  wretched  infant  has  for- 
feited it  by  any  deed  of  actual  criminality  :  it  is 
to  suppose  a  strangely  incredible  circumstance, 
which  at  once  puts  dishonour  upon  God  and  is 
revolting  to  the  intellect  of  man,  merely  to  serve 
a  turn  in  a  theological  argument. 

Nor  is  this  all.  When  we  see  baptized  per- 
sons living  for  years  without  God  in  the  world  ; 
when  we  afterwards  observe  a  decided  and  per- 
manent change  in  the  conduct  of  such  persons  ; 
and  when  we  hear  them  declaring  with  one  con- 
sent, that  they  are  conscious  of  a  corresponding 
change  of  heart  which  makes  them  altogether 
different  men  from  what  they  well  remember 
themselves  to  have  once  been,  though  they  may 
not  be  able  to  specify  the  precise  moment  when 
the  change  commenced  :  when  tlie  whole  of 
this  passes  in  review  before  us:  can  we  doubt, 
that  these  persons  have  been  regenerated  after 
Baptism,  and  consequently  that  they  were  not 
regenerated  in  Baptism  ? 

If  then  we  put  these  various  matters  together, 
we  must,  I  think,  on  every  principle  both  of  Scrip- 
ture and  Reason,  decide,  that  all  baptized  infants 
are  not  regenerated.  But,  if  all  baptized  infants 
are  not  regenerated,  some  baptized  infants  must 
have  been  unworthy  recipients  of  Baptism  :  that 
is  to  say,  they  must  at  the  time  of  Baptism  have 


Tlie  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         SS0 

been  children  of  wrath  and  therefoi-e  unworthy. 
To  such  a  conclusion  we  are,  as  it  appears  to  me, 
brought  by  the  irresistible  force  of  actual  expe- 
rience, against  which  no  mere  abstract  argument 
can  possibly  hold  good.  The  strong  evidence  of 
facts,  reasoned  upon  in  the  very  manner  which 
Christ  and  St.  Paul  teach  us  to  reason  upon  them, 
demonstrates,  unless  we  are  prepared  to  uphold 
a  crazy  system  by  identifying  darkness  with 
light,  that  many  baptized  infants  have  not  been 
regenerated* 

JVhy  the  existence  of  this  yet  palpable  and 
undeniable  circumstance  should  be  permitted  by 
the  Supreme  Being,  I  pretend  not  to  determine : 
I  can  only  refer  it,  as  the  last  resort,  with  va- 
rious other  equally  inexphcable  and  equally  cer- 
tain matters  in  the  moral  world,  to  the  good 
pleasure  of  an  all-seeing  God  who  orders  every 
thing  according   to  the  dictates  of  his  infinite 
wisdom.     At  this  point,  ignorant  and  erring  man 
must  stop  short :  at  least,  here  he  must  stop, 
until  he  shall  have    satisfactorily  accounted  for 
moral  evil,  until  he  shall  have  reconciled  divine 
prescience  and  human  free-agency,  and  until  he 
shall  have  shewn  why  the  Christian  is  placed  in 
a  more  favourable  situation  than  the  Heathen 
for   ensuring   an   abundant   entrance   into   the 
kingdom  of  heaven.     On  these  and  such  like 
points  we  are  completely  in  the  dark  ;  and,  the 
Faber.     30 


226         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

less  we  bewilder  ourselves  with  vainly  seeking 
to  unravel  their  intricacies,  the  more  prudently 
and  soberly  we  shall  act. 

To  return  however  to  the  matter  in  debate  : 
this,  at  any  rate,  is  abundantly  clear,  that  the 
Church  of  England,  speaking  through  her  Arti- 
cles, decidedly  rejects  the  unscriptural  doctrine 
of  the  necessary  inseparability  of  Baptism  and  Re- 
generation, 

4.  Let  us  now  proceed  to  the  Homilies,  which 
will  probably  throw  additional  light  on  the  real 
sentiments  of  the  Anghcan  Church. 

(1.)  In  the  first  part  of  the  Sermon  for  Roga- 
tion week,  we  read  as  follows. 

Let  them  all  come  together  that  be  now  glorified 
in  heaveji,  and  let  us  hear  what  answer  they  will 
make,  whether  their  first  creation  was  in  God^s 
goodness  or  of  themselves.  Forsooth,  David  would 
make  answer  for  them  all  and  say,  Know  ye  for 
surety,  even  the  Lord  is  God  ;  he  hath  made 
us,  and  not  we  ourselves.  If  they  were  asked 
again,  who  should  be  thanked  for  their  Regenera- 
tion, for  their  Justification,  and  for  their  Salva- 
tion ;  whether  their  deserts,  or  God'^s  goodness 
only  :  although  in  this  point  every  one  confess 
sufficiently  the  truth  of  this  matter  in  his  oivn  per- 
son, yet  let  David  answer  by  the  mouth  of  them 
all,  Not  to  us,  0  Lord,  not  to  us,  but  to  thy  name 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.        2S7 

give  all  the  thanks,  for  thy  loving  mercy  and  for 
thy  truth  sake.* 

We  are  here  taught,  that  the  glorified  saints 
in  heaven  are  all  ready  to  acknowledge,  that 
they  owe  not  their  Regeneration  to  their  own 
merits  but  solely  to  the  goodness  of  God.  Now, 
as  many  of  these  saints  have  doubtless  been 
baptized  during  their  infancy,  if  the  Church  had 
judged  that  their  Regeneration  universally  took 
place  in  the  article  of  their  Baptism  ;  it  were 
mere  idle  trifling  with  words  for  her  gravely  to 
assure  us,  that  they  ascribed  not  their  Regenera- 
tion to  their  own  deserts.  For,  if  they  were  re- 
generated at  Baptism  during  their  infancy,  it  is 
indeed  an  abundantly  clear  case,  that  they  could 
not  rationally  ascribe  that  privilege  to  their  own 
merits  :  but  then  it  is  clear  for  so  very  childish 
a  reason,  that  we  are  not  doing  much  honour  to 
the  intellects  of  our  reformers  by  making  them 
argue  so  ridiculously.  Had  each  glorified  saint, 
that  was  baptized  during  his  infancy,  been  re- 
generated also  in  the  article  of  Baptism  ;  he 
most  indisputably  could  have  done  nothing  to 
merit  his  Regeneration,  for  a  very  obvious  rea- 
son :  he  would  in  fact,  being  a  mere  infant,  have 
done  nothing  at  all  previous  to  his  Regeneration, 
neither  good^  bad,  nor  indifferent ;  so  that   of 

*  Serm.  for  Rogat.  Week  i.  p.  402,  403,  Oxon. 


228         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

course  he  could  not  have  merited  it  by  any 
righteous  deeds,  which  he  had  anteriorly  per- 
formed. All  this,  no  doubt,  is  quite  plain ;  and 
we  must  certainly  concede,  that  no  person,  who 
is  regenerated  at  the  age  of  a  week  or  a  month, 
can  have  previously  done  any  thing  to  deserve 
his  Regeneration.  But  would  our  wise  and 
venerable  reformers  have  been  guilty  of  such 
egregious  trifling?  I  should  conceive  not.  The 
whole  tenor  of  the  passage  manifestly  implies, 
that  at  least  a  very  great  part  of  the  glorified 
saints  had  been  regenerated  at  an  adult  age  and 
long  subsequent  to  their  Baptism ;  but  that, 
viewing  even  their  most  specious  actions  as 
every  Christian  must  view  them,  they  ascribed 
not  their  Regeneration  in  the  slightest  degree  to 
their  own  antecedent  meritoriousness  but  solely 
to  the  undeserved  goodness  of  God. 

Understand  the  citation  in  this  manner,  whicli 
is  evidently  the  manner  in  which  it  ought  to  be 
imderstood  ;  and  we  have  excellent  sense :  but, 
in  that  case,  we  must  give  up  the  notion,  that 
the  Anglican  Church  maintains  the  necessary  in- 
separability  of  Baptism  and  Regeneration. 

(a.)  But  there  is  a  yet  more  decisive  passage 
in  the  first  part  of  the  Sermon  for  Whitsunday. 

Where  the  Holy  Ghost  worketh,  there  nothing 
is  impossible,  as  may  appear  by  the  inxvard  Re- 
generation and  Sanctification  of  mankind.    Whe?i 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         2S9 

Christ  said  to  Kicodemus^  Unless  a  man  be  born 
anew  of  water  and  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God,  he  was  greatly  amazed 
in  his  mind,  and  began  to  reason  with  Christ,  de- 
manding, how  a  man  might  be  born  which  is  old. 
Can  he  enter,  saith  he,  into  his  mother's  womb 
again,  and  so  be  born  anew  ?  Behold  a  lively 
pattern  of  a  fleshly  and  carnal  man.  He  had  lit- 
tle or  no  intelligence  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  there- 
fore he  goeth  bluntly  to  xvork,  and  asketh  how  this 
thing  were  possible  to  be  true  :  whereas  otherwise, 
if  he  had  known  the  ^  great  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  in  this  behalf,  that  it  is  he  which  inwardly 
ivorketh  the  Regeneration  and  Kew  Birth  of  man- 
kind ;  he  would  never  have  mai^elled  at  ChrisPs 
zvords,  but  would  rather  take  occasion  thereby  to 
praise  and  glorify  God.  For,  as  there  are  three 
several  and  sundry  persojis  in  the  Deity,  so  have 
they  three  several  and  sundry  offices  proper  unto 
each  of  them  :  the  Father  to  create,  the  Son  to  re- 
deem, the  Holy  Ghost  to  sanctify  and  regenerate. 
Whereof  the  last,  the  tnore  it  is  hid  from  our  un- 
derstanding, the  more  it  ought  to  move  all  men  to 
wonder  at  the  secret  and  mighty  workings  ofGocPs 
Holy  Spirit  which  is  within  us.  For  it  is  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  no  other  thing,  that  doth  quicken 
the  minds  of  men,  stirring  up  good  and  godly  mo- 
tions in  their  hearts,  which  are  agreeable  to  the 
will  and  commandment  of  God^  such  as  otherwise 


230         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

of  their  own  crooked  and  perverse  nature  they 
should  never  have.  That,  which  is  bom  of  the 
Spirit,  is  spirit.  As  who  should  say,  man  of  his 
own  nature  is  fleshly  and  carnal,  corrupt  and 
naught,  sinful  and  disobedient  to  God,  without  any 
spark  of  goodness  in  him,  without  any  virtuous  or 
godly  motion,  only  given  to  evil  thoughts  and  wick- 
ed deeds.  As  f(yr  the  works  of  the  Spirit,  the 
fruits  of  faith,  charitable  a?id  godly  motions,  if  he 
have  any  at  all  in  him,  they  proceed  only  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  who  is  the  only  worker  of  our  Sanc- 
tificatioji  and  maketh  us  new  men  in  Christ  Jesus 
' — Such  is  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  regen- 
erate men  and  as  it  were  to  bring  them  forth 
anew,  so  that  they  shall  be  nothing  like  the  men 
they  were  before.  Keither  doth  he  think  it  suffi- 
cient inwardly  to  work  the  spiritual  and  new 
birth  of  man,  ujiless  he  do  also  dwell  and  abide  in 
him — Here  is  now  that  glass,  wherein  thou  must 
behold  thyself,  and  discern  whether  thou  have  the 
Holy  Ghost  zvithin  thee  or  the  spirit  of  the  flesh. 
If  thou  see  that  thy  works  be  virtuous  and  good, 
consonant  to  the  prescript  rule  of  God^s  word,  sa- 
vouring and  tasting  not  of  the  flesh  but  of  the 
Spirit ;  then  assure  thyself,  that  thou  art  endued 
with  the  Holy  Ghost :  otherwise,  in  thinking  well 
of  thyself,  thou  dost  tiothing  else  but  deceive  thyself* 

*  Serm.  for  Whitsimd.  i.  p.  389,  390,  391. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,  231 

Let  any  one  judge,  whether  the  whole  tenor 
of  this  passage  does  not  plainly  shew,  that  the 
persons  treated  of  in  it  are  not  infants  but  adults. 

We  are  first  told,  that,  when  God's  Holy  Spirit 
quickens  or  regenerates  the  minds  of  men,  he 
stirs  up  good  and  godly  motions  in  their  hearts ; 
that,  in  consequence  of  this  divine  action  in 
their  souls,  they  are  made  new  men  in  Christ 
Jesus  :  and  that,  when  they  are  so  regenerated 
and  brought  forth  anew,  they  are  nothing  like 
the  men  they  were  before.  We  are  next  very 
methodically  taught  the  manner  of  this  great 
dissimilitude  to  their  former  selves.  The  Spirit, 
we  learn,  having  inwardly  wrought  the  new 
birth  of  man,  continues  also  to  dwell  and  abide 
in  him  for  the  purpose  of  Sanctification.  Hith- 
erto he  was  fleshly  and  carnal,  corrupt  and 
naught,  sinful  and  disobedient  to  God,  only  given 
to  evil  thoughts  and  wicked  deeds :  but  now,  in 
consequence  of  his  Regeneration,  a  mighty 
change  has  taken  place,  which  makes  him  an  al- 
together different  man  from  what  he  was  pre- 
viously ;  for  his  works  are  become  virtuous  and 
good,  consonant  to  the  rule  of  God's  word,  sa- 
vouring and  tasting  not  of  the  flesh  but  of  the 
Spirit.  Such  is  the  nature  of  the  change,  com- 
mencing at  Regeneration  and  afterwards  fully 
developing  itself  in  the  course  of  Sanctification : 
so  that,  as  the  man,  who  before  wrought  witli 


233  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

greediness  the  deeds  of  the  flesh,  now  brings 
forth  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  ;  even  all  his  neigh- 
bours (which  indeed  they  are  generally  quick 
enough  to  do)  may  distinctly  perceive  the  reali- 
ty of  it  by  his  altered  views  and  conduct.  Last- 
ly, with  much  wisdom  and  piety,  we  are  warned 
of  the  fatal  mistake  of  fancying  ourselves  regen- 
erate, when  our  lives  and  dispositions  prove  us 
to  be  unregenerate.  If  these  savour  and  taste, 
not  of  the  Spirit,  but  of  the  flesh  ;  we  are  but 
falling  into  a  miserable  self-deception  in  think- 
ing well  of  ourselves.  For,  in  fact,  it  is  a  palpa- 
ble contradiction  in  terms,  that  a  man,  whose 
whole  life  demonstrates  him  to  be  carnal^  should 
yet  be  spiritually  regenerated  and  born  again  of 
God. 

On  the  whole,  I  see  not  what  sense  can  be 
made  of  the  passage,  if  we  think  fit  to  refer  it  to 
infants  and  not  to  adults.  An  infant  is  indeed 
corrupt  by  nature  :  but  how  has  he  ever  been 
actually  disobedient  to  God,  or  how  has  he  ever 
been  actually  given  to  evil  thoughts  and  wicked 
deeds  ;  which  the  passage  represents  to  be  the 
case  with  those  unregenerate  persons  of  whom 
it  is  treating  ?  The  change  is  said  to  consist  in 
ceasing  to  work  the  deeds  of  the  flesh  and  in  be- 
ginning to  bring  forth  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  ; 
so  that  the  man,  by  reason  of  this  change,  is 
perceptibly  nothing  like  the  man  that  he  was 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         233 

before  :  but  what  deeds  of  the  fleshy  as  enumer- 
ated by  St.  Paul,  has  an  infant  wrought ;  what 
fruits  of  the  Spirit^  as  specified  by  the  same 
apostle,  has  an  infant  manifested ;  how,  by  ceas- 
ing to  work  the  former  and  by  beginning  to 
bring  forth  the  latter,  has  an  infant  exhibited  a 
perfect  dissimilitude  to  his  original  self?  It  is 
impossible  to  comprehend,  how  phraseology 
like  this  can  respect  a  mere  child  :  the  author  of 
the  Homily  is  most  palpably  treating  of  some 
great  internal  change  in  the  soul  of  an  adult, 
which  altogether  influences  his  external  con- 
duct. But,  if  this  be  the  case,  then  the  change 
treated  of  must  necessarily  be  viewed  as  having 
taken  place  in  this  adult  long  after  his  outward 
Baptism. 

The  only  loop-hole,  by  which  a  disputant 
might  escape  from  so  obvious  a  conclusion,  is 
this  :  the  persons  spoken  of  are  heathens  previous 
to  their  baptism  into  a  Christian  Church  ;  not 
persons  within  the  pale  of  such  a  Churxh,  rvho 
have  been  duly  baptized  in  their  infancy. 

To  this  barely  possible  subterfuge  the  close 
of  the  passage  affords  a  complete  answer.  The 
Homilies  were  Sermons  appointed  to  be  paro- 
chially read  to  the  members  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. Now,  at  the  end  of  a  most  sound  and  ju- 
dicious account  of  Regeneration,  the  reading 
minister  addresses  each  of  those  members,  who 

Fabej\       31 


234  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

are  present,  individually  and  in  the  second  per- 
son :  here  is  that  glass,  wherein  thou  must  he- 
hold  THYSELF,  and  discern  whether  thou  have 
the  Holy  Ghost  xvithin  thee  or  the  spirit  of  the 
flesh.  I  need  scarcely  say,  that,  according  to 
the  entire  foregoing  account  of  Regeneration 
which  had  just  been  read  to  the  assembled 
members  of  the  Church,  the  having  the  Holy 
Spirit,  or  the  having  the  spirit  of  the  flesh,  is 
made  the  grand  test  of  a  man's  being  regenerate 
or  unregenerate.  Yet,  at  the  close  of  it,  the 
minister  calls  upon  all  present  to  examine  them- 
selves and  discern,  w^hether  they  have  the  one 
Spirit  or  the  other  spirit.  Hence  he  plainly  calls 
upon  them  to  judge  by  their  fruits,  whether 
they  be  regenerate  or  unregenerate.  The  per- 
sons then,  who  are  concerned  in  the  foregoing 
account  of  Regeneration,  are  no  mere  iinbapti- 
zed  heathens  ;  but  regularly  baptized  members  of 
the  Anglican  Church,  young  and  old,  male  and 
female,  assembled  together  for  the  laudable  pur- 
pose of  receiving  ministerial  instruction.  These 
therefore  are  the  persons,  who  are  taught  what 
a  great  change  Regeneration  is  :  these  are  the 
persons  called  upon  to  discern,  whether  they 
be  regenerate  or  not.  But,  though  it  is  pre- 
sumed that  so?ne  of  these  may  very  possibly 
have  never  been  regenerated  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         235 

yet  they  have  all  been  outwardly  baptized  with 
water. 

Hence  it  is  plain,  that,  in  the  judgment  of  the 
Church,  Baptism  and  Regeneration  are  by  no 
means  inseparable  :  and  hence  it  is  equally 
plain,  that  this  same  Church  directs  all  her  min- 
isters to  call  upon  their  congregations,  after  a 
godly  manner,  to  discern  whether  they  be  indi- 
vidually regenerate  or  unregenerate. 

III.  Thus  have  I  endeavoured  to  vindicate  the 
Church  of  England  from  an  aspersion,  which  has 
not  unfrequently  been  cast  upon  her,  of  teaching 
a  doctrine  at  once  irreconcileable  with  right 
Reason  and  contradictory  to  Holy  Scripture.  If 
I  have  at  all  succeeded  in  this  attempt,  my  end 
has  been  answered :  and  I  shall  consider  my- 
self as  having  done  good  service  to  the  venera- 
ble and  truly  apostolical  communion,  of  which  I 
am  a  member. 


SERMON  VIII. 


THE   DOCTRINE    OF   REGENERATION,    ACCORDING    TO   SCRIP- 
TURE AND  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND. 


ROMANS    II.    28,    29. 

He  is  not  a  Jew^  which  is  o?ie  oiitivardly  ;  neither  is  that 
circumcision^  which  is  outward  in  the  flesh :  but  he  is  a 
Jew,  which  is  one  inwardly  ;  and  circumcision  is  tliat  of 
the  heart,  in  the  Spirit,  and  not  in  the  lettei',  whose 
praise  is  not  of  men,  but  of  God. 

PERTINACITY  in  error  is  so  very  common 
an  infirmity  of  the  human  mind,  that,  although 
it  has  now  been  shewn  most  fully  that  the  doc- 
trine of  the  inseparability  of  Baptism  and  Regen- 
eration is  not  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, it  may  probably  be  still  urged  that  tlie 
ablest  divines  of  that  Church  have  ever  main- 
tained it  as  a  genuine  tenet  of  the  communion 
to  which  they  belong.  Whence  it  may  be  ar- 
gued, that,  as  such  is  the  universal  opinion  of 
her  ablest  divines,  it  seems  most  sti'angely  in- 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.        S37 

credible,  that  from  age  to  age  they  should  have 
agreed  in  misunderstanding  the  sentiments  of  the 
Anglican  Church.  The  fair  presumption  there- 
fore from  these  premises  is,  that  they  have  not 
misunderstood  her  sentiments  ;  and  consequent- 
ly that,  notwithstanding  all  vs^hich  has  been  said 
to  the  contrary,  she  really  does  the  doctrine  of 
the  inseparability  of  Baptism  and  Regeneration. 

I  know  not  that  I  have  ever  seen  the  argu- 
ment/o?'7W«%  drawn  out  in  this  manner;  but  I 
have  often  seen  it  insinuated  with  as  much  pomp 
of  confidence,  as  if  it  were  plainly  and  confes- 
sedly unanswerable.  Now  I  will  readily  ac- 
knowledge, that,  although  we  might  not  be  abso- 
lutely bound  discretionally  to  surrender  our  in- 
tellects to  the  conclusion  of  such  an  argument, 
we  should  at  least  be  somewhsit puzzled  with  it ; 
for  the  conclusion  no  doubt  is  very  legitimately 
deduced  from  the  premises :  all  the  ablest  di- 
vines of  the  English  Church  have  ever  held  the 
inseparability  of  Baptism  and  Regeneration  : 
THEREFORE  it  is  incrcdiMe,  that  the  Church  her- 
self should  all  the  while  have  held  a  precisely  op- 
posite doctrine.  But,  before  we  perplex  our- 
selves with  this  knotty  conclusion,  it  may  per- 
haps be  as  prudent  to  inquire,  whether  the  prem- 
ises, from  which  it  has  been  deduced,  are  them- 
selves valid  :  it  may  perhaps  be  as  prudent  to 
Inquire,  whether  all  the  ablest  divines  of  the 


S38  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

English  Church  have  ever  held  the  inseparabili- 
ty of  Baptism  and  Regeneration.  If  such  prem- 
ises can  indeed  be  established  ;  it  will  then  be 
quite  time  enough  to  consider  what  we  can 
make  of  the  conclusion  :  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
they  cannot  be  estabUshed  ;  then  of  course  we 
need  not  trouble  ourselves  with  a  conclusion 
deduced  from  a  palpable  falsehood.  In  that 
case,  the  premises  being  unsound,  the  conclu- 
sion must  needs  be  unsound  likewise. 

I.  Would  we  then  know  the  sentiments  of 
our  standard  divines,  we  must  obviously  regard, 
not  what  may  have  been  boldly  asseiied  of  them, 
but  what  they  themselves  have  advanced  on  the 
subject  before  us  :  that  is  to  say,  we  must  con- 
sult those  writings^  which  they  have  left  for  the 
instruction  of  posterity. 

1.  A  brief  confession  of  faith  has  come  down 
to  us,  drawn  up  and  signed  by  the  following  pro- 
testant  bishops  and  martyrs  while  imprisoned  in 
London  ;  Robert  Ferrar  late  Bishop  of  St.  Da- 
vid's, Rowland  Taylor,  John  Philpot,  John  Brad- 
ford, Laurence  Saunders,  John  Hooper  late  Bi- 
shop of  Worcester  and  Gloucester,  Edward 
Crome,  John  Rogers,  and  Edmund  Lawrence. 
It  bears  date  the  eighth  day  of  May,  in  the  year 
1554  ;  and  to  it  is  annexed  the  subsequent  de- 
claration :  To  these  things  aforesaid^  do  /,  Miles 
Coverdale  late  Bishop  of  Exeter,  consent  and  agree 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         239 

with  these  mine  afflicted  brethren  being  prisoners. 
Mine  (xwn  hand^  Miles  Cover  dale.  And  now  let 
us  hear  the  solemn  testimony  of  the  eminent 
men,  whose  names  are  here  recited. 

We  believe  and  confess  conceriiing  Justification^ 
that,  as  it  comet h  only  from  God^s  mercy  through 
Christ,  so  it  is  perceived  and  had  of  none  who  be 
of  years  of  discretion,  otherwise  than  by  faith  only. 
Which  faith  is  not  an  opinion,  but  a  certain  per- 
suasion  wrought  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  mind 
and  heart  of  man  ;  wherethrough,  as  the  mind 
is  illuminated,  so  the  heart  is  suppled  to  submit  it' 
self  to  the  will  of  God  unfeigfiedly,  and  so  shexveth 
forth  an  inherent  righteousness  ;  which  is  to  be 
discerned  in  the  article  of  justification  from  the 
righteousness  which  God  enduetk  us  withal  in 
justifying  us,  although  inseparably  they  go  to- 
gether. And  this  we  do,  not  for  curiosity  or  con- 
tention sake,  but  for  conscience  sake  that  it  might 
be  quiet ;  which  it  can  never  be,  if  we  confound, 
ivithout  distinction,  forgiveness  of  sin  and  ChrisPs 
justice  imputed  to  us,  with  Regeneration  and  in- 
herent Righteousness. 

In  this  passage,  Regeneration  and  inherent 
Righteousness,  which  is  but  another  name  for 
Sanctification,  are  carefully  and  accurately  dis- 
tinguished from  that  imputed  Righteousness  of 
Christ  by  which  alone  we  are  forensically  justi- 
fied.   Now  such  Regeneration  and  Sanctifica- 


340         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

tion  are  described,  as  consisting  of  an  ilhimina- 
tioh  of  the  mind  and  a  suppling  of  the  heart  to 
submit  itself  to  the  will  of  God  unfeignedly.  But 
these  internal  operations  necessarily  imply,  that 
the  subject  of  them  is  an  adult  and  not  a  mere 
infant.  Hence  it  is  expressly  said,  that,  in  those 
who  be  of  years  of  discretion^  such  graces  are  the 
result  of  a  faith,  which  is  not  a  mere  theoreti- 
cal opinion,  but  a  certain  persuasion  wrought  by 
the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  mind  and  heart  of  man. 
The  whole  drift  however  of  the  Confession 
clearly  shews,  that  it  treats  of  persons  ivho  have 
been  born  and  baptized  and  bred  in  a  Christian 
country^  not  of  unbaptized  heathens  ivho  never 
heard  of  the  name  of  Jesus  until  they  came  to 
years  of  discretion.  Consequently,  it  teaches 
us,  that  Regeneration  and  Sanctification,  rightly 
described  as  consisting  of  an  illumination  of  the 
mind  and  a  suppli?ig  of  the  heart  to  submit  itself 
unfeignedly  to  the  will  of  God,  sometimes  take 
place  in  the  souls  of  those  who  be  of  years  of  dis- 
cretion ;  notwithstanding  these  declared  adults 
have  been  already  baptized  in  their  infancy. 

Here  then  we  find  many  venerable  fathers  of 
the  Anglican  Church  ;  one  of  whom,  Bp.  Fer- 
rar,  was  (according  to  Bp.  Burnet)  a  member  of 
the  committee  nominated  to  compile  the  Litur- 
gy, and  therefore  doubtless  wtII  acquainted  with 
the  genuine  doctrines  of  that  Church  •*  here  we 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.        241 

find  many  venerable  fathers  arguing  on  the  ex- 
press supposition,  which  they  plainly  view  as 
incontrovertible,  that  Regeneration  and  its  con- 
sequent Sanctification  may  and  often  do  take 
place  in  the  souls  of  adults,  who  have  been  long 
before  outwardly  baptized. 

Hence  they  speak  exactly  to  the  same  pur- 
pose in  what  they  say  of  the  two  Sacraments. 

We  confess  and  believe  the  Sacraments  of  Christy 
which  be  Baptism  and  the  Lord^s  Supper^  that 
they  ought  to  be  ministered  according  to  the  insti- 
tution  of  Christ,^  concerning  the  substajitial  parts  of 
them  ;  and  that  they  be  no  longer  Sacraments^ 
than  they  be  had  in  use  and  used  to  the  end  for 
which  they  were  instituted. 

This  article  is  chiefly  levelled  at  the  errors  of 
the  Romanists  respecting  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  ;  but  it  applies  with  equal  force 
to  any  superstitious  notions  respecting  the  Sacra- 
ment of  Baptism,  and  ought  clearly  to  be  under- 
stood with  reference  to  what  had  been  already 
said  on  the  subject  of  Regeneration  and  inherent 
Righteousness.  Hence,  in  the  judgment  of  these 
venerable  men,  if  Baptism  be  viewed  as  a  sort 
of  mechanical  process  by  which  the  soul  of  an 
infant  may  be  spiritually  regenerated,  it  becomes 
no  better  than  a  mere  form.  At  least,  when  we 
consider  the  general  context  of  the  first-cited 
passage,  I  know  not  any  other  sense  in  which 

Faber.     33 


242         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

we  can  understand  them,  when  they  speak  of 
Baptism  being  had  in  use  and  used  to  a  differ- 
ent end  from  that  to  which  it  was  instituted  ••  for 
what  other  abuse  can  there  be  of  Baptism  than 
to  administer  it  with  the  vain  notion,  that  the 
baptized  subject  will  infallibly  and  ipso  facto  be- 
come regenerate  ? 

Thus  we  find,  even  in  limine,  that  three  bi- 
shops and  seven  presbyters  of  the  primitive  Eng- 
lish Reformed  Church,  one  of  those  bishops 
moreover  concerned  in  compiling  the  Liturgy, 
esteem  it  a  matter  perfectly  indisputable,  that 
Regeneration  may  take  place  in  adult  subjects 
who  have  received  infant  baptism,  and  conse- 
quently that  Baptism  and  Regeneration  are  not 
inseparable. 

3.  In  addition  to  this  brief  confession  of  faith, 
a  code  of  forty  one  articles  has  come  down  to 
us  :  which  (according  to  Bp.  Burnet,)  it  is  more 
than  probable,  were  framed  by  Cranmer  and 
Ridley,  and  sent  about  to  others  that  they  might 
correct  or  add  to  them  as  they  saw  cause.  The 
twenty  sixth  article  is  couched  in  the  following 
terms. 

There  are  two  Sacraments,  which  are  not  hare 
tokens  of  our  profession,  but  effectual  signs  of  God^s 
good  will  to  us  :  xvhich  strengthen  our  faith,  yet 
not  by  virtue  only  of  the  work  wrought,  but  in 
those  who  receive  them  worthily. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,  343 

If  then  any  one  receive  Baptism  unworthily  ; 
the  inward  grace  of  Regeneration,  in  the  opinion 
of  Cranmer  and  Ridley,  does  not  attend  it. 
Therefore,  according  to  these  two  prelates,  Bap- 
tism and  Regeneration  are  inseparable. 

3.  We  have  now  heard  the  sentiments  of  five 
English  bishops  who  flourished  at  the  time  of 
the  Reformation,  let  us  next  attend  to  those  of 
their  venerable  brother  Bp.  Latimer. 

The  preachini^  of  the  Gospel  is  the  power  of 
God  to  every  man  that  doth  believe.  Paid  means, 
God^s  word  opened  is  the  instrument  and  the 
thing  whereby  ye  are  saved.  Beware^  beware^ 
that  ye  diminish  not  this  office  :  for,  if  ye  do,  ye 
decay  God's  power  to  them  that  believe,  Christ 
saith  consonant  to  the  same,  Except  a  man  be 
born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God. 
He  must  have  a  Regeneration,  And  what  is  this 
Regeneration  ?  It  is  not  to  be  christened  in  water, 
as  those  firebrands  do  expound  it,  and  nothing 
else.  How  is  it  to  be  expounded  then  ?  St.  Peter 
sheweth,  that  one  place  of  Scripture  declareth 
another.  It  is  the  circumstance  and  collation  of 
places,  that  make  Scripture  plain,  Saith  St.  Pe- 
ter, We  be  born  again.  How?  Not  by  a  mortal 
seed,  but  by  an  immortal.  What  is  this  immortal 
seed  f    By  the  word  of  the  living  God  :  by  the 


244  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

word  of  God  preached  and  opened.     Thus  com- 
eth  in  our  new  birth.^ 

In  this  very  explicit  passage  the  holy  martyr 
declares,  that  to  confound  mere  Baptism  with 
spiritual  Regeneration,  so  as  to  maintain  that 
every  baptized  person  is  thence  ipso  facto  regen- 
erate, is  a  palpable  heresy  advocated  by  none 
save  those  whom  (in  the  rough  phraseology  of 
of  the  day)  he  calls  firehrajids  :  and,  to  prevent 
the  possibility  of  any  escape,  he  afterwards  as- 
serts, that  our  new  birth  cometh  in  by  the  word 
of  God  preached  and  opened.  Now,  since  it  is 
plair  that  a  baptized  infant  cannot  hear  the  w^ord 
of  God  preached,  and  since  it  is  nevertheless  de- 
clared by  the  bishop  that  the  hearing  of  this 
word  preached  is  the  instrumental  cause  of  Re- 
generation ;  v^e  must  necessarily  conclude,  that, 
in  his  judgment,  both  many  baptized  persons 
were  still  unregenerate,  and  likewise  that  their 
Regeneration  was  to  be  effected  at  an  adult  age 
by  hearing  the  word  of  God  faithfully  preached 
to  them. 

Nor  is  this  the  whole,  which  we  are  obliged 
to  conclude  from  the  important  passage  before 
us.  As  Latimer  stigmatizes  all  those,  who 
taught  an  opposite  doctrine,  with  the  uncourtly 
appellation  oi firebrands  ;  we  may  be  sure,  that 

*  Latimer's  Serm.  vol.  i.  p.  72. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,        245 

this  opposite  doctrine  was  maintained  in  his  day 
only  by  the  Romanists,  and  that  the  protestant 
reformers  with  whom  he  himself  symbolized 
unanimously  rejected  it  as  an  evident  corruption 
of  Popery.  Here  then  we  learn,  in  exact  accor- 
dance with  the  authorities  which  have  been  al- 
ready cited,  that  the  general  doctrine  of  the 
Church  of  England,  at  the  time  when  her  au- 
thorized documents  were  composed,  was  not 
the  inseparability  of  Baptism  and  Regeneration^ 
as  some  modern  authors  have  very  incautiously 
asserted,  but  ^/2ei?^j?os5iM^  and  frequent  separ^abil- 
ity. 

4.  Another  prelate,  who  lived  during  the 
eventful  period  of  the  reformation  of  the  Angli- 
can Church,  is  Bp.  Jewel :  and  his  sentiments, 
as  expressed  in  his  Apology,  perfectly  harmo- 
nize with  those  of  Bp.  Latimer. 

We  believe^  that  the  Holy  Spirit^  who  is  the 
third  person  of  the  blessed  Trinity,  is  truly  God  ; 
neither  made,  nor  created,  nor  begotteji,  but  pro- 
ceeding after  an  ineffable  manner  both  from  the 
Father  and  the  Son.  It  is  his  office  to  soften  the 
hardness  of  the  human  heart ;  when  he  is  receiv- 
ed into  the  breasts  of  men,  either  by  the  whole^ 
some  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  or  through  any 
other  channel.  He  illuminates  them:  and  thus 
brings  them  to  the  knowledge  of  God,  to  the  entire 


S46         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

way  of  truth,  to  a  renomation  of  the  whole  life,  and 
to  a  perpetual  hope  of  salvation.^ 

The  bishop  is  here  plainly  speaking  of  Regen- 
eration by  the  Holy  Spirit  :  for  what  is  Regen- 
eration, but  the  commencement  of  Sanctifica- 
tion  ',  and  what  is  Sanctification,  but  an  enlight- 
ening of  the  intellect,  a  turning  of  the  regener- 
ate to  the  real  knowledge  of  God,  a  renovation 
of  life,  and  a  well-grounded  faith  in  the  divine 
promises.  Now,  while  he  declares  this  great 
internal  change  to  be  the  special  work  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  ;  he  expressly  states,  that  the  me- 
dium, through  which  that  blessed  agent  operates 
upon  the  soul,  is,  either  the  wholesome  public 
preaching  of  the  Gospel ;  or  any  other  more  pri- 
vate channel,  such  as  reading  of  the  word,  or 
conversation,  or  something  analogous.  But 
adults  only  are  capable  of  being  benefited  in 
such  modes  as  these.  Therefore,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  Bp.  Jewel,  adults,  even  in  a  pure  Christ- 

*  Credimus  Spiritum  Sanctum,  qui  est  tertia  persona  in  sa- 
era  Tiiade,  ilium  verum  esse  Deum  ;  non  factum,  non  crea- 
turn,  non  genitum,  sed  ab  utroque,  Patre  scilicet  et  Filio,  ra- 
tione  quadam  mortalibus  incognita  ac  ineffabili,  procedentem. 
Illius  esse  duritiem  humani  cordis  emollire,  cum  aut  per  sa- 
lutiferam  praedicationem  Evangelii,  aut  alia  quacunque  ra- 
tione,  in  pectora  hominum  recipitur  ;  ilium  eos  illuminare,  et 
in  agnitionem  Dei  atque  in  ommem  viam  veritatis  et  in  totius 
vitae  noyitatem  et  perpetuam  salutis  spem  perducere.  Juell, 
Apolog.  p.  207.  in  Randolph's  Enchir.  Theol.  vol.  i. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         247 

ian  Church,  may  still  after  infant  baptism  have 
need  to  be  spiritually  regenerated. 

5,  Contemporary  with  the  worthies,  who 
have  already  passed  in  review  before  us,  was 
Alexander  Noel,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's  :  and,  agree- 
ably to  the  inference  which  was  drawn  from  a 
somewhat  unceremonious  expression  of  Bp. 
Latimer,  he  perfectly  harmonizes  with  his  breth- 
ren in  his  views  of  Regeneration. 

Having  stated  that  Baptism  is  the  outward 
sign  of  a  new  birth  unto  righteousness,  he  asks, 
Whence  then  have  we  Regeneration  itself?  The 
reply  is,  From  no  other  source^  than  from  the 
death  and  resurrection  of  Christ.  For^  by  the 
force  of  his  death,  our  old  man  is  crucified  and 
mortified :  while,  through  the  benefit  of  his  resur- 
rection, we  are  reformed  to  newness  of  life  and  a 
holy  obedience  to  the  justice  of  God.^  He  next 
asks,  Do  ALL  commonly  and  promiscuously  attain 
to  this  grace  ?  The  reply  is,  Such  fruit  is  re- 
ceived by  the  faithful  alone  :  as  for  the  un- 

*  Regenerationem  vero  unde  habemus  ?  Non  aliunde 
quam  a  morte  et  resurrectione  Christi  f  nam  per  mortis  suae 
vim  vetus  homo  noster  quodam  modo  crucifigitur  et  mortifi- 
catur,  et  naturse  nostrse  vitiositas  quasi  sepelitur,  ne  amplius 
in  nobis  vivat  et  vigeat.  Resurrectionis  vero  suse  beneficio 
nobis  largitur,  ut  in  novam  vitam  ad  obediendum  Dei  justitise 
reformemur.  Noell.  Catechism,  p.  215.  in  Randolph's  En- 
ehir.  Theol.  vol.  ii. 


248         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

faithful^  by  slighting  the  promises  of  God^they  pre- 
clude their  own  admission  and  go  away  empty ; 
yet  the  Sacraments  do  7iot,  by  reason  of  their  cut- 
pahility,  lose  their  force  and  nature.^  Sacra- 
ments they  still  are,  as  representing  an  inward 
grace  ;  although  such  grace  is  withheld  from 
those,  who  partake  of  either  of  them  unworthily. 
Afterwards  indeed  he  speaks  of  our  being  re- 
generated in  Baptism,  agreeably  to  the  phraseol- 
ogy used  in  the  offices  of  our  Church  ;  but, 
since  he  had  already  limited  the  grace  of  Regen- 
eration to  worthy  recipients  alone,  he  cannot  be 
understood  as  asserting  the  i?iseparability  ofBap- 
tism  and  Regeneration;  because,  in  that  case, 
even  within  the  space  of  a  few  pages,  he  would 
be  guilty  of  a  most  absurd  self-contradiction.t 

*  An  gratiam  hanc  omnes  communiter  et  promiscue  conse- 
quuntur  ?  soli  fideles  hunc  fructum  percipiunt  :  increcluli 
vero  oblatas  illic  a  Deo  promissiones  I'espuendo,  aditum  sibi 
prsecludentes,  inanes  abeunt;  non  tamen  id  efficiunt,  ut  suam 
sacramenta  vim  et  naturam  amittant.    Ibid. 

-j-  Sicuti  in  Baptismo  semel  renati  sumus  ;  ita  Coena  Dom- 
inica ad  vitam  spiritualem  atque  sempitemam  jugiter  alamur 
atque  sustentemur.  Ibid.  p.  222.  Sicuti  per  Baptismum  se- 
mel regenei-amur  in  Christo,  et  in  ejus  corpus  primum  quasi 
cooptamur  et  inserimur  ;  ita  Cosnam  Dominicam  rite  perci- 
pientes,  corporis  et  sanguinis  sui  nutrimento  plane  divino  et 
salutis  atque  immortalitatis  plenissimo,  Spiritus  Sancti  opera 
nobis  communicato,  a  nobis  vero  fide  quasi  animse  nostrjE  ore 
excepto,  ad  seternam  vitam  jugiter  alamur  atque  sustentemur  ; 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,        249 

6.  Let  us  now  descend  a  generation  lower, 
and  begin  with  inquiring  into  the  sentiments  of 
Bp.  Hall. 

utrobique  in  unum  cum  Christo  corpus  coalescentes.     Ibid, 
p.  226. 

Independent  indeed  of  what  the  Dean  had  said  before  re- 
specting the  FAITHFUL  ONLY  attaining  the  grace  of  Regener- 
ation by  Baptism,  the  very  context  of  the  two  passages,  in 
which  he  speaks  of  our  being  born  again  through  Baptism^ 
determines  unequivocally  the  sense  in  which  he  uses  that  ex- 
pression. He  describes  us,  as  being  regenerated  in  Baptism, 
and  afterwards  as  being  sustained  in  our  pilgrimage  heaven- 
ward by  the  spiritual  nutriment  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Now, 
since  he  thus  brings  the  two  sacraments  together  into  a  single 
sentence,  every  rule  of  sound  criticism  requires  us  to  suppose, 
that  he  means  to  treat  of  them  homogejicously.  If  then  he 
would  intimate,  that  all  baptized  persons  are  regenerated; 
he  must  also  intimate,  that  all  partakers  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per receive  it  worthily  :  and  conversely,  if  he  would  intimate, 
that  ONLY  SOME  receive  the  Lord's  Supper  spiritually  ;  he 
must  also  intimate,  that  only  some  are  spiritually  regenerat- 
ed in  Baptism.  But  to  imagine,  that  he  maintains  all  parta- 
kers of  the  bread  and  wine  to  be  spiritually  nourished  by  the 
Lord's  Supper,  were  no  less  contrary  to  common  sense  than  to 
his  own  express  declaration,  soli  fideles  corpori  et  san- 
guine Christi  pascuntur  (Ibid.  p.  229.)  Therefore,  as  he  li- 
mits a  spiritual  participation  of  the  Lord's  Supper  to  the 
FAITHFUL  ALONE  ;  he  must  be  understood,  as  similarly  li- 
miting a  spiritual  participation  of  Baptism,  even  at  the  very 
time  when  he  speaks  of  our  being  born  again  through  that  or- 
dinance. Accordingly,  this  interpretation,  and  this  only, 
will  make  him  consistent  with  himself  :  for  he  elsewhere  ex- 
pressly does  thus  limit  a  spiritual  participation  of  Baptism. 

Faher,  33 


S50  The  Bodrine  of  Regeneration, 

From  our  creation  we  may  look  to  our  Regen- 
eration. If  we  he  the  sons  of  God,  we  are  renew- 
ed :  and  how  shall  it  appear,  whether  we  he  the 
sons  of  God  ?  It  is  a  golden  rule,  Whosoever 
are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons 
of  God.  Yet,  if  in  hoth  of  these  life  coidd  he 
counterfeited,  death  cannot.  Mortify  your  mem- 
bers, which  are  on  earth.  There  is  a  death  of 
this  body  of  sin ;  and  what  manner  of  death  ? 
Those,  that  are  Christ's,  have  crucified  the  flesh 
with  the  affections  and  lusts.  Lo,  as  impossible 
as  it  is  for  a  dead  man  to  come  down  from  his 
gibbet  or  up  from  his  coffin  and  to  do  the  works  of 
his  former  life;  so  impossible  it  is,  that  a  renetved 
man  should  do  the  works  of  his  unrege7ieratiun. 
If  therefore  you  find  your  hearts  unclean,  your 
hands  idle  and  unprofitable,  your  ways  crooked 
and  unholy,  your  corruptions  alive  a?id  lively  ; 
never  pretend  to  any  renexving.  You  are  the  old 
men  still :  and,  however  ye  may  go  for  Christians, 
yet  ye  have  denied  the  power  of  Christianity  in 
your  lives.     And,  if  ye  so  continue,  the  fire  of  hell 

Soli  fideles   hunc  fructum    (scil.  gratiam  R«generationis) 
percipiunt.  Ibid.  p.  215. 

Those  writers  on  the  side  of  the  inseparability  of  Baptisjn 
and  Regeneration^  who  are  fond  of  quoting  Dean  Noel  as  ad- 
vocating their  opinion,  ought  to  quote  him  fairly ;  and  not 
garble  his  sentiments,  by  citing  only  his  expression  in  Baptis- 
ina  semel  renati  sumus^  and  omitting  all  the  rest.  The  Dean 
really  advocates  the  directly  opposite  opinion. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,        251 

shall  have  so  much  more  power  over  you  for  that 
it  finds  the  baptismal  water  upon  yourfaces,^ 

Here,  if  I  mistake  not,  Bp.  Hall  teaches  us, 
that  we  are  to  judge,  whether  we  be  regenerate 
or  no,  by  the  fruits  which  we  bring  forth.  If 
our  fruits  be  of  the  Spirit,  we  are  regenerate : 
if  of  the  flesh,  we  are  not  regenerate  ;  notwith- 
standing we  may  have  been  duly  baptized  in  our 
infancy.  In  that  case,  says  the  pious  prelate, 
never  pretend  to  any  renewing:  the  baptismal 
water  on  your  faces,  so  far  from  having  made 
you  new-born  children  of  God,  will  only  have 
rendered  you  more  fit  subjects  for  eternal  con- 
demnation. 

In  perfect  accordance  with  such  a  view  of  the 
question,  as  he  here  teaches  us  that  a  child 
may  be  baptized  without  having  been  regener- 
ated ;  so  he  elsewhere  avows  his  belief,  that  a 
man  may  be  regenerated  without  having  been 
baptized. 

JVb  man  that  hath  faith,  can  he  condemned  ; 
for  Christ  dwells  in  our  hearts  by  faith :  and  he, 
in  xohom  Christ  dwells,  cannot  be  a  reprobate. 
Kow  it  is  possible,  that  a  man  may  have  a  saving 
faith  BEFORE  Baptism.  Abraham  first  believed 
to  justification  :  then,  after,  received  the  sign  of 
circumcision,  as  a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  that 

^  Bp.  Hall's  Works,  vol.  v.  Serm.  XX.  p.  296. 


S5S         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

faith  which  lie  had  when  he  was  imcirciimcised. 
Therefore  some,  dying  before  their  Baptism^ 
jnay,  yea,  must  he  saved,  Neither  was  Abra- 
ham''s  case  singtdar :  he  was  the  father  of  all 
them  also,  which  believe,  fiot  being  circumcised. 
These,  as  they  are  his  sons  in  faith,  so  in  right- 
eousness, so  in  salvation.  Uncircumcision  cannot 
hinder,  where  faith  admitteth.  These,  following 
his  steps  of  belief  before  the  Sacrament,  shall 
doubtless  rest  in  his  bosom  without  the  Sacra- 
ment ;  without  it,  as  fatally  absent,  not  as  wil- 
linglii  neglected.  Who  takes  Baptism  without  a 
full  faith,  saith  Jerome,  takes  the  water,  takes 
not  the  Spirit.  Baptism  therefore,  without  faith, 
cannot  save  a  man ;  and,  by  faith  doth  save  him, 
And  faith,  without  Baptism,  where  it  cannot  be 
had ;  not  where  it  may  be  had,  and  is  contemned  ; 
may  save  him.  That  Spirit,  which  works  by 
means,  zvill  not  be  tied  to  means. ^ 

The  bishop  in  this  passage  does  not  indeed 
use  the  precise  word  Regeneration,  but  he  suffi- 
ciently describes  the  thing.  Those  persons,  in 
whose  hearts  Christ  dwells  by  faith,  cannot,  as 
he  well  remarks,  be  reprobate  :  that  is  to  say, 
such  persons  must  be  regenerate ;  for  it  is  a 
contradiction  in  terms  to  say,  that  Christ  can 
dwell  by  faith  in  the  hearts  of  the  unregenerate, 

*  B9.  Hall's  Works,  vol.  vii.  Dec.  V.   Epist.  4.  p.  236,  23r. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         S58 

so  that  even  while  unregenerate  they  neverthe- 
less shall  have  a  saving  faith.  Now  he  asserts, 
that  a  man  may  have  a  saving  faith,  through 
Christ  dwelling  in  his  heart,  before  Baptism. 
Consequently,  he  asserts  in  effect,  that  a  man 
may  be  regenerated  previous  to  his  being  bap- 
tized. Agreeably  to  this  assertion,  he  adds  in 
conclusion,  that  Baptism  may  exist  without  faith, 
and  faith  without  Baptism  ;  the  Spirit  of  God  not 
being  confined  to  the  outward  means.  But 
faith  is  essential  to  the  character  of  the  regen- 
erate ;  for  no  regenerate  man  can  be  an  unbe- 
liever. If  then  Baptism  may  exist  without  faith  ; 
it  clearly,  in  the  judgment  of  Bp.  Hall,  may  ex- 
ist without  Regeneration. 

7.  As  the  protestant  episcopal  Church  of  Eng- 
land is  now  legislatively  united  to  the  protes- 
tant episcopal  Church  of  Ireland,  and  as  the 
two  have  ever  been  rightly  esteemed  sisters  in 
the  faith  of  Christ,  I  feel  myself  perfectly  at  lib- 
erty to  adduce  in  the  present  question  the  high 
authority  of  Abp.  Usher ;  a  worthy  and  emi~ 
nendy  learned  contemporary  of  Bp.  Hall. 

Speaking  jointly  of  the  two  Sacraments,  the 
archbishop  asks.  Is  God  always  present  to  give 
the  thing  signified  to  all  them  that  the  minister 
giveth  the  sign  ?  To  this  he  replies,  no,  not  to 
ALL  :  for  SOME,  171  receiving  the  sigJis,  receive  to- 
gether rvith  them  their  own  judgment.     After- 


254}        The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

wards,  descending  more  to  particulars,  he  asks, 
Jire  ALL  they  theii,  that  are  partakers  of  the  out- 
ward zvashing  of  Baptism^  partakers  also  of  the 
inward  washing  of  the  Spirit  ?  Doth  this  Sa- 
crament seal  up  their  spiritual  ingraffing  into 
Christ  to  ALL  who  externally  receive  it  ?  The 
answer  is,  Surely  no.  Though  God  hath  or- 
dained these  outward  means  for  the  conveyance  of 
the  inward  grace  to  our  soids  ;  yet  there  is  no  ne- 
cessity^ that  we  should  tie  the  workings  of  God^s 
Spirit  to  the  Sacraments  more  than  to  the  word. 
The  promises  of  salvation^  Christ  and  all  his  ben- 
efits, are  preached  and  offered  to  all  in  the  minis- 
try of  the  word  :  yet  all  hearers  have  them  not 
conveyed  to  their  soids  by  the  Spirit,  but  those 
whom  God  hath  ordai?ied  to  life.  So,  in  the  Sa- 
craments, the  oidward  elements  are  dispensed  to 
all  who  make  an  oidxvard  profession  of  the  Gos- 
pel, (for,  in  infants,  their  being  born  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Church  is  instead  of  an  outrvard  professio?i,) 
because  man  is  not  able  to  distinguish  corn  from 
chaff :  bid  the  inward  grace  of  the  Sacrament  is 
NOT  cominunicated  to  all,  but  to  those  only  who 
are  heirs  of  those  promises  rvhereof  the  Sacra- 
ments are  seals.  He  next  asks,  What  is  the  ad- 
vantage then  or  benefit  of  Baptism  to  a  common 
Christian  ?  He  replies,  The  same  as  was  the 
benefit  of  Circumcision  to  the  Jew  outward.  There 
is  a  general  grace  of  Baptism,  which  all  the  bap- 


The  Dodrhie  of  Begeneration.        255 

tized  partake  of  as  of  a  common  favour  :  and  that 
is  their  admission  into  the  visible  body  of  the 
Church,  their  matriculation  and  outward  incor- 
porating into  the  number  of  the  worshippers  of 
God  by  external  communion.  And  so,  as  Cir- 
cumcision was  not  only  a  seal  of  the  righteous- 
ness which  is  by  faith,  but  as  an  overplus,  God  ap- 
pointed it  to  be  like  a  wall  of  separation  between 
Jew  and  Gentile :  so  is  Baptism  a  badge  of  an 
outward  member  of  the  Church,  a  distinction  from 
the  common  rout  of  heathen ;  and  God  thereby 
seals  a  right  upon  the  party  baptized  to  his  ordi- 
nances, that  he  may  use  them  as  his  privileges  and 
wait  for  an  inxvard  blessing  by  them.  Yet  this  is 
but  the  porch,  the  shell,  and  outside :  all,  that  are 
outwardly  received  into  the  visible  Chwxh,  are 
NOT  spiritually  ingraffed  i?ito  the  mystical  body  of 
Christ.  Baptism  always  is  attended  upon  by 
that  GENERAL  gvacc,  but  not  always  with  this 
SPECIAL.  Again  he  asks.  Doth  the  inward 
grace  always  accompany  the  outward  sign  in 
those  of  years  baptized  ?  To  this  he  rephes,  no  ; 
but  only  then,  when  the  profession  of  their  faith  is 
not  outwajYl  only  and  counterfeit,  but  sincere  and 
hearty.  Next  he  asks.  But  what  say  you  of  in- 
fants baptized  that  are  born  in  the  Church :  doth 
the  i7iward  grace  in  that  Baptism  always  attend 
upon  the  outward  sign  ?  The  answer  is,  Surely 
NO  :  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism  is  effectual  m  in- 


256  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

fants,  only  to  those  and  to  all  those  who  belong  un- 
to the  election  of  grace.  Which  things  though  xve, 
in  the  judgment  of  charity^  do  judge  of  every 
particular  infaiit ;  yet  we  have  no  ground  to  judge 
so  of  all  in  general :  or,  if  we  should  judge  so,  yet 
it  is  not  any  judgment  of  certainty :  we  may  be 
mistaken.*  The  learned  prelate  finally  sums 
up  the  whole  question  in  the  following  passage. 
When  God  affordeth  means,  we  must  wait  upon 
him  for  a  blessing  in  them  and  by  them :  when  he 
doth  not  afford  means,  we  must  not  tie  the  working 
of  his  grace  to  them,  God,  who  sanctifieth  some 
in  the  rvomb,  knows  how  to  sanctify  all  his  elect  in- 
fants  and  by  his  Spirit  apply  the  merits  of  Christ 
unto  them  without  the  outward  water.  Some 
have  the  outxvard  sign,  and  not  the  inward  grace  ; 
some  have  the  inward  grace,  and  i^ or  the  outward 
sign :  we  must  not  commit  idolatry  by  deifying 
the  outward  element.* 

So  complete  a  statement  of  the  matter  as  this 
requires  no  comment :  it  is  sufficient  to  say, 
that,  as  for  the  Calvinistic  mode  in  which  the 
great  Abp.  of  Armagh  treats  the  case  of  bap- 
tized infants,  not  being  a  Caivinist  myself,  I  have 

*  The  Archbishop  here  plainly  alludes  to  the  phraseology 
of  the  baptismal  office  of  the  Anglican  Church  :  and  it  is 
manifest,  that  he  understands  it  precisely  in  the  same  manner 
as  I  have  done. 

t  Usher's  Body  of  Divin.  p.  385,  391, 392,  396. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         257 

no  concern  with  it,  neither  do  I  see  the  necessi- 
ty for  treating  it  in  any  such  manner  ;*  my  sole 
business  is  to  inquire  into  the  sentiments  of 
Usher,  respecting  a  pretended  inseparability  of 
Baptism  and  Regeneration  which  some  in  the 
present  day  would  fain  impose  upon  us  as  a 
genuine  doctrine  of  the  English  Church.  Now 
it  is  abundantly  manifest  from  the  preceding  ci- 
tations, that  this  illustrious  divine  no  more 
thought  of  advocating  such  a  wild  superstitious 
fancy,  than  his  brethren  who  flourished  during 
the  period  of  the  Reformation. 

8.  Contemporaiy  with  Abp.  Usher  and  Bp. 
Hall  was  the  judicious  Hooker  :  and  him  also 
we  find  holding  the  same  views,  though  he  has 
not  stated  them  with  equal  precision.  After 
maintaining  that,  where  Baptism  is  rightly  ad- 
ministered, we  may  expect  it  to  be  attended  by 
the  inward  grace  of  Regeneration,  though  we 
are  not  vainly  to  deem  the  one  the  mecharical 
cause  of  the  other  ;  and  after  acknowledgiiig, 
that,  so  far  from  the  two  being  inseparably  tied 
together,  it  is  both  known  and  confessed  that  a 
man  may  receive  grace  before  Baptism:  after 
these  preliminaries,  he  proceeds  as  follows. 

The  Law  of  Christ  must  be  constrtied  and  un- 
derstood  according  to  rules  of  natural  equity, 

*  See  above  Serm.  VII.  §  H-  3.  (4.) 

Faber,    34, 


258  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

And^  because  equity  so  teacheth,  it  is  on  all  parts 
gladly  confrssed.  that  there  may  be  in  diverse  cases 
life  by  virtue  of  inward  Baptism,  where  out- 
ward is  IS OT  found.  For  example,  to  think,  that 
a  man,  whose  Baptism  the  croivn  of  martyrdom 
preventeth,  doth  lose  in  that  case  the  happiness 
which  so  many  thousands  enjoy  that  have  only  had 
the  grace  to  believe  and  not  the  honour  to  seal  the 
testimony  thereof  with  death,  were  almost  barba^ 
Tous.  Again,  when  some  certain  opinionative 
men  in  St.  Bernard^ s  time  began  privately  to  hold^ 
that,  because  our  Lord  had  said  Unless  a  man  be 
born  again  of  water,  therefore  life,  without  either 
actual  Baptism  or  Martyrdom  instead  of  Baptism, 
cannot  possibly  be  obtained  at  the  hands  of  God  : 
Bernard,  considering,  that  the  same  equity  which 
had  moved  them  to  think  the  necessity  of  Baptism 
no  bar  against  the  happy  estate  of  unbaptized  mar- 
tyrs, is  as  forcible  for  the  warrant  of  their  salva- 
tion, in  whom,  although  there  be  not  the  sufferings 
of  holy  martyrs,  there  are  the  virtues  which  sanc- 
tified those  sufferings  and  made  them  precious  in 
God'^s  sight  ;  professed  himself  an  enemy  to  that 
severity  and  strictness,  which  admitteth  no  excep- 
tion but  of  martyrs  only.  Touching  infants  which 
die  unbaptized,  sith  they  neither  have  this  sacra- 
ment itself  nor  any  sense  or  co?iceit  thereof,  the 
judgment  of  many  hath  gone  hard  against  them. 
But  yet,  SEEING  grace  is  not  absolutely  tied 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,  259 

UNTO  SACRA3IENTS,  remorse  of  equity  hath  moved 
diverse  of  the  school' divines  to  grant,  that  God, 
all-merciful  to  such  as  are  not  in  themselves  able 
to  desire  Baptism,  imputeth  the  secret  desire  that 
others  have  in  their  behalf  and  accepteth  the  same 
as  theirs  rather  than  casteth  away  their  souls  for 
that  which  no  man  is  able  to  help.  We  are  plain- 
ly taught  of  God,  that  the  seed  of  faithful  parent- 
age is  holy  from  the  very  birth.  Which,  albeit 
we  may  7iot  so  understand,  as  if  the  children  of 
helieving  parents  were  without  sin :  yet  it  is  not 
to  be  thought,  that  he,  which,  as  it  were  from 
heaven,  hath  nominated  and  designated  them  un- 
to holiness  by  special  privilege  of  their  very  birth, 
will  himself  deprive  them  of  Regeneration  and  in- 
ward grace,  only  because  necessity  depriveth  them 
of  outward  Sacraments.  * 

In  this  passage  Hooker  maintains,  that  inward 
Baptism  or  Regeneration  may  subsist  where 
outward  Baptism  is  not  found,  that  grace  is  not 
absolutely  tied  unto  Sacraments,  and  conse- 
quently that  infants  may  partake  of  Regenera- 
tion and  inward  grace  though  the  outward  Sa- 
crament has  never  been  administered  to  them. 
Nor  was  such  an  opinion  in  his  day  at  all  singu- 
lar or  unusual :  he  tells  us,  as  a  thing  quite  fa- 
miliar and  well  known,  that  it  is  on  all  parts 

*  Hooker's  Eccles.  Pol.  b.  v.  §  60. 


260         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

GLADLY  CONFESSED  that  there  may  he  in  diverse 
cases  LIFE  (that  is,  spiritual  life,  of  which  Re- 
generation is  the  commenceraent)  hy  virtue  of 
INWARD  Baptism^  xvhen  outward  Baptism  is  not 
found.  The  doctrine  then,  that  Regeneration  is 
NOT  inseparably  tied  to  Baptism^  hut  that  it  may 
take  place  in  the  human  soul  either  before  or  at 
or  after  Baptism,  so  far  from  heing  a  fond  and 
novel  speculation  in  Hooker's  time,  was,  we  see, 

ON  ALL  PARTS  GLADLY  CONFESSED. 

9.  Let  us  now  descend  a  step  yet  lower,  and 
inquire  what  the  divines  of  the  English  and  Irish 
Churches  say  in  the  next  generation.  Bishop 
Reynolds  shall  first  declare  his  sentiments. 

Um^egenerate  men  ar'e  often  secure  me?i,  mak- 
ing principles  and  premises  of  their  own  to  huild 
the  conclusions  of  their  salvation  upon.* 

Now,  as  these  unregenerate  men  argue  and 
draw  conclusions,  they  must  plainly  he  adults. 
But  the  context  manifestly  shews,  that  they  are 
outwardly  at  least  members  of  the  Christian 
Church  ;  because  they  are  described  as  specu- 
lating upon  that  salvation,  which  God  has  offer- 
ed to  all  men  through  the  merits  of  his  Son. 
Therefore,  in  the  judgment  of  Bp.  Reynolds, 
baptized  adults  may  still  be  unregenerate. 

*  Bp.  Reynold's  Works,  p.  46. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneratioji.        261 

The  unregenerate  are  of  several  sorts  a?id 
stamps.  Some  are  apparently  and  in  conspectu 
hominum  outrageous  sinners  ;  upon  whom  every 
man,  that  sees  them,  may  without  breach  ofchar- 
ity  pass  this  sentence,  There  goes  a  man  who  de- 
clares himself  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  to  be  a  ser- 
vant of  sin.  Others  there  are  of  a  more  calm, 
civil,  composed,  course,  men  much  wiser^  but  not  a 
dram  holier  than  those  before.  In  those  men 
there  appeareth  not  so  sovereign  and  absolute  a  do- 
minion  of  sin  as  hath  been  spoken  of,  inasmuch  as 
they  seem  to  live  in  a  fair  external  conformity  to 
the  truths  which  they  have  learned.  These  more 
moderate  sort  of  unregenerate  men  seem  to  shift 
off  from  themselves  the  charge  of  being  subject  to 
the  reign  of  sin,  inasmuch  as  they  abhor  many 
sins,  and  do  many  things  which  the  ride  requires."^ 

Here  again  the  unregenerate  men,  of  whom 
the  bishop  is  treating,  are  certainly  adidts  ;  and 
they  are  no  less  certainly  outward  members  of 
the  Christian  Church  ;  because  they  are  de- 
scribed, as  living  in  some  measure  conformably 
to  the  truths  which  they  have  learned,  and  as  do- 
ing many  things  which  the  rule  of  God's  word 
requires  at  their  hands.  The  men  therefore 
have  been  baptized  :  yet  the  bishop  scruples 

* Bp. Reynold's  Works,  p.  Ill,  113. 


S6»  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

not  to  pronounce  them  unregenerate,  notwith- 
standing their  outward  Baptism. 

Unrtgenerate  men  of  a  more  calm  and  civil 
temper  tnay  conceive  themselves  delivered  from 
the  reign  of  sin,  because  they  have  many  conflicts 
'with  it  and  reliictancies  against  it  ;  and  so  afford 
not  such  a  plenary  and  resolved  obedience  to  it,  as  so 
absolute  a  power  reqiiireth.* 

In  this  passage  likewise  the  unregenerate  men 
are  evidently  baptized  adults ;  because  they  are 
exhibited,  as  being  outwardly  in  a  Christian 
Church,  and  as  avowedly  receiving  the  word  of 
God  for  their  rule  of  duty.  Yet,  baptized  as 
they  are,  they  are  nevertheless  styled  unregen- 
erate, 

10.  It  were  easy  to  multiply  citations  of  a  sim- 
ilar purport  from  the  works  of  Bp.  Reynolds, 
for  he  invariably  takes  it  for  granted  and  con- 
siders it  as  a  point  which  no  person  would  think 
of  denying,  that  many  baptized  persons  are  still 
unregenerate  :  but,  as  I  wish  to  avoid  prolixity, 
I  will  pass  forward  to  Bp.  Hopkins. 

This  prelate  is  the  author  of  four  very  valua- 
ble sermons  on  the  express  subject  of  Regener- 
ation ;  and,  throughout  the  whole  of  them,  he 
uniformly  argues  on  the  ground,  that  the  out- 
ward visible  sign  in  Baptism  is  frequently  un- 

*  Bp.  Reynold's  Works,  p.  118. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         263 

attended  by  the  inward  spiritual  grace.  Let  us 
however,  in  some  detached  passages,  hear  him 
speak  his  own  words. 

Very  difficult  it  is  to  persuade  men  against  the 
prejudices  of  their  corrupt  hearts.  This  great 
change^  say  they^  is  more  than  needs.  Regenera- 
tion begins  noiv  to  be  descried  by  as  great  masters 
in  Israel  as  ever  Nicode?mis  was.  Many  under- 
stand not  to  what  end  the  fabric  of  corrupt  nature 
should  be  demolished,  and  inen  as  it  were  turned 
out  of  themselves.  They  think,  if  they  are  but 
baptized,  whereby,  as  they  suppose,  the  guilt  of 
origifial  sin  is  ivashed  away,  that  a  sober  religious 
life,  keeping  from  gross  actual  sins,  is  sufficient 
for  the  obtaining  of  heaven,  without  those  hard 
and  inexplicable  notions  of  Regeneration.  I  shall 
therefore  endeavour  to  convince  you  of  the  indis- 
pensible  necessity  that  there  is  of  being  born  again  ; 
that  so,  when  you  are  persuaded  of  it,  you  may 
give  no  rest  unto  yourselves  nor  unto  God,  till  he 
cause  his  Spirit,  which  is  that  wind  that  bloweth 
where  it  listest,  to  breathe  spiritual  life  into  you, 
without  which  it  is  impossible  that  you  should  in- 
herit eternal  life.* 

The  bishop  here  exhorts  his  congregation, 
which  doubtless  contained  many  baptized  adidts, 
to  beseech  God  that  he  would  regenerate  them 

*  Bp.  Hopkins's  Works,  p.  535. 


264}  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

by  his  Holy  Spirit.  Hence  he  certainly  believed, 
that  several  of  his  hearers  might  very  possibly 
WANT  the  grace  of  spiritual  Regeneration,  though 
they  had  been  duly  baptized  with  water  in  their 
infancy.  We  may  additionally  gather  from  this 
passage,  that  the  old  Popish  superstition  of  the 
inseparability  of  Baptism  and  Regeneration  was 
then  beginning  (as  the  bishop  speaks)  to  rear  its 
head  and  even  to  be  fostered  by  some  of  the 
clergy  themselves.  From  the  time  of  the  Re- 
formation, it  had  been  in  a  manner  unknown 
among  protestants  :  but  now  the  genuine  doc- 
trine of  the  reformed  began  to  be  decried  by 
as  great  masters  in  Israel  as  ever  Kicodemus  was. 
The  bishop  of  Deny  however  manfully  bore  his 
testimony  against  the  revival  of  such  an  unscrip- 
tural  corruption  :  and  that  testimony  has  come 
down  to  us,  couched  in  terms  which  can  neither 
be  misunderstood  nor  explained  away. 

By  ivater  is  meant  Baptism^  the  element  being 
put  for  the  ordinance^  which  is  the  Sacrament  of 
our  Regeneration  :  and  thus  you  have  it  in  Ephes. 
V.  S6.  rvhere  the  Church  is  said  to  be  sanctified 
and  cleansed  through  the  washing  of  water. 
Tliere  is  indeed  a  baptismal  Regeneration,  where- 
by all  that  are  made  partakers  of  that  ordinance 
are,  according  to  Scripture  language,  sanctified, 
renewed,  made  the  children  of  God,  and  brought 
within  the  bond  of  the  covenant :  but  all  this  is 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         S65 

but  after  an  external  manner,  as  being  in  this 
ordinance  entered  members  of  the  visible  Church, 
Kow  this  EXTERNAL  Regeneration  by  xvater  en- 
titles none  to  eternal  life,  but  as  the  Spirit  moves 
upon  the  face  of  these  waters,  and  doth  sometimes 
secretly  convey  quickening  virtue  through  them.* 
Here  the  bishop  asserts,  what  no  person  will 
be  disposed  to  deny,  that  Regeneration  does 
SOMETIMES  accompany  Baptism:  but  his  very 
use  of  the  word  sometimes  imphes,  if  indeed  it 
were  any  necessary  to  gather  his  sentiments 
by  mere  impUcation,  that  such  is  very  far  from 
being  always  the  case.  Afterwards  he  teaches, 
in  exact  conformity  with  the  authorities  already 
cited,  that  the  instrument  in  God's  hand,  where- 
by the  soul  is  ordinarily  regenerated,  is  the  in- 
spired word  of  Holy  Scripture.  Hence  it  plain- 
ly follows,  that,  so  far  from  bolstering  up  our 
hearers  in  the  vain  notion  that  they  are  already 
regenerated  simply  because  they  have  been  bap- 
tized ;  we  ought  rather  to  urge  upon  their  con- 
sciences, with  much  sincerity  of  speech,  the 
powerful  word  of  God,  that  they  who  have  not 
yet  been  regenerated  may  by  his  blessing  be 
really  born  again  of  his  Spirit  as  they  have  here- 
tofore been  typically  born  again  of  water. 

*  Bp.  Hopkins's  Works,  p.  519. 

Faber.       35 


266  Tlie  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

The  seminal  virtue  or  means^  by  which  this 
New  Birth  is  effected^  is  the  rvord  of  God,  So 
you  have  it  expressly  in  James  i.  18.  Of  his 
own  good  will  begat  he  us  with  the  word  of 
truth.  The  preaching  of  the  word  is  the  great 
means,  which  God  hath  appointed  for  Regenera- 
tion in  Ro7n.  x.  17.  Faith  cometh  by  hearing, 
and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God.  When  God 
first  created  7nan,  it  is  said  that  he  breathed  into 
his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life.  But,  when  God 
new  creates  mail,  he  breathes  into  his  ears.  This 
is  that  word,  that  raiseth  the  dead,  calleth  them 
out  of  the  grave,  opens  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  turns 
the  hearts  of  the  disobedient  and  rebellious.  Such 
an  energy  is  there  in  the  word  of  God,  when  the 
Spirit  of  God  cloathes  it  with  power,  that  it  breaks 
in  upon  the  conscience,  ruinates  and  demolishes 
the  frame  of  sinful  nature,  and  in  an  instant  con- 
veys spiritual  light  and  warmth  and  quickening 
into  the  soul.* 

11.  After  Bp.  Hopkins,  we  may  profitably  at- 
tend to  Bp.  Pearson,  who  still  speaks  to  the 
same  effect. 

The  secotid  paH  of  the  office  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
in  the  Sanctificatioji  of  man,  is  the  Regeneratio?i 
and  Renovation  of  him.  For,  our  natural  cm^- 
ruption  consisting  in  an  aversation  of  our  wills 

*  Bp.  Hopkins's  Works,  p.  5Zo. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         267 

and  a  depravation  of  our  affections^  an  inclination 
of  them  to  the  will  of  God  is  wrought  within  us 
by  the  Spirit  of  God.  For  according  to  his  mer- 
cy he  saved  us,  by  the  washing  of  Regeneration 
and  Renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  So  that,  ex- 
cept a  man  be  born  again  of  water  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God.  We  are  all  at  first  defiled  by  the  corrup- 
tion of  our  nature  and  the  pollution  of  our  sins  : 
but  we  are  washed,  but  we  are  sanctified,  but 
we  are  justified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God.  The  second  part 
then  of  the  office  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  reneiving 
of  man  in  all  the  parts  and  faculties  of  his  soul  : 
as  the  first  was  a7i  ifiter?ial  illumination,  by  which 
we  are  inclined  to  the  obedience  of  faith,  in  assent- 
ing to  those  truths  which  unto  a  natural  and  car- 
nal man  are  foolishness — Tfliat  the  apostle  then 
wished  to  the  Corinthians  ought  to  be  the  earnest 
petitio7i  of  every  Christian,  that  the  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  communion  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  be  with  us  all.  For,  if  any  man 
have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his : 
if  ye  have  not  that  ivhich  maketh  the  union,  he 
cannot  be  united  ;  if  he  acknowledge  him  not  to 
be  his  Lord,  he  cannot  be  his  servant:  and  no 
man  can  say  that  Jesus  is  the  Lord,  but  by  the 
Holy  Ghost.  That,  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit, 
is  Spirit  3  such  is  their  felicity  that  have  i^.-  that, 


268         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

which  is  born  of  the  flesh,  is  flesh  ;  such  is  their 
infelicity  that  xvant  it* 

It  is  supposed,  we  here  see,  by  Bp.  Pearson, 
that  tlie  fii'st  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the 
Sanctification  of  man  is  the  internal  illumination 
of  his  intellect ;  by  which  he  is  inclined  to  the 
obedience  of  faith,  in  assenting  to  those  truths 
which  to  a  natural  and  carnal  man  are  foolish- 
ness :  and  that  the  second  work  of  the  same 
blessed  Spirit  in  man's  Sanctification  is  the  Re- 
generation and  Renovation  of  him.  I  think  it 
more  logically  accurate  to  say,  that  Regenera- 
tion is  the  commencing  point  of  Sanctification  ; 
and  that  tl^e  enlightening  of  the  intellect,  the  in- 
fluencing of  the  will,  and  the  purifying  of  the 
affections,  begin  with,  or  follow  in  regular  order 
after.  Regeneration  :  for,  as  the  natural  birth  is 
the  inchoation  of  the  natural  life,  so  the  spiritual 
birth  must  analogously  be  the  inchoation  of  the  spi- 
ritual life.  This  however  is  of  no  importance,  so 
far  as  the  sentiments  of  the  bishop  are  concerned 
respecting  the  pretended  inseparability  of  Bap- 
tism and  Regeneration.  The  enlightening  of  the 
intellect,  by  which  a  man  is  inclined  to  the  obe- 
dience of  faith  and  is  made  to  assent  to  the 
truths  of  the  Gospel,  is  clearly  an  operation, 
which  in  the  very  nature  of  things  can  only  take 

*  Bp.  Pearson  on  the  Creed.  Art.  VIII.  vol.  i.  p.  496,  500. 

Oxon. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         S69 

place  in  an  adult.  But  this  operation,  according 
t©  the  bishop,  precedes  Regeneration.  There- 
fore he  necessarily  considers  Regeneration  also, 
as  taking  place  in  an  adult.  Now  the  adults, 
whom  he  thus  supposes  to  be  regenerated  sub- 
sequent to  the  illumination  of  their  intellect,  are 
undoubtedly,  not  unbaptized  pagans,  but  baptiz- 
ed members  of  the  Christian  Church  :  for  he 
speaks  of  them  plurally  in  the  fn  st  person  ; — 
an  internal  illumination^  by  wJiich  we  are  inclin- 
ed to  the  obedience  of  faith.  Hence  it  is  mani- 
fest, that  the  bishop  considers  it  as  a  matter  per- 
fectly indisputable  that  adults  might  be  inwardly 
regenerated  long  after  they  had  been  outwardly 
baptized  during  their  infancy.  Accordingly,  the 
whole  of  his  subsequent  discourse  hinges  upon 
this  very  point.  If  any  fuan,  a  case  quite  possi- 
ble even  in  a  visible  Christian  Church,  accord- 
ing to  the  opinion  of  Bp.  Pearson  :  If  any  man 
have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his  ; 
if  he  have  not  that  which  niaketh  the  u?iion,  he 
cannot  be  united. 

12.  Let  us  next  hear  Bp.  Wilkinson  the  same 
subject. 

This  prelate  advises  us  to  pray  earnestly  to 
God,  that  he  would  give  unto  us  a  Jiew  hearty 
and  put  a  nexv  spirit  within  us;  that  thus  we 
MAY  be  regenerate  and  become  ?ierv  creatures, 


syo  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

being  horn  again  of  that  incorrwptible  seed  the 
word  of  God.*  • 

The  persons,  to  whom  such  advice  is  given, 
are  baptized  Christians.  Now,  if  the  bishop  had 
held  the  strange  notion  tliat  all  who  are  bap- 
tized are  thence  ipso  facto  regenerated,  it  is  a 
clear  case,  that  he  never  would  have  exhorted 
baptized  Christians  to  pray  that  they  might  be 
regenerated.  Hence  it  is  evident,  that,  in  his 
judgment,  many  may  have  been  baptized,  who 
yet  need  the  inward  Regeneration  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  We  may  note,  that,  in  exact  accordance 
with  the  preceding  authorities,  he  maintains  the 
word  of  God  to  be  the  instrumental  cause  of 
Regeneration.  He  teaches  therefore,  that  spi- 
ritual Regeneration  in  baptized  adidts  is  effected 
by  the  faithful  preaching  of  God's  word  :  for  it  is 
superfluous  to  observe,  that  no  infant  can  pos- 
sibly be  regenerated  through  the  medium  of 
hearing  the  Scriptures  read  or  expounded. 

13.  A  slight  descent  in  the  chronological  scale 
will  bring  us  to  another  class  of  eminent  di- 
vines :  but  still  we  find  the  same  important 
truth  sedulously  inculcated,  and  the  same  dan- 
gerous  superstition  carefully  discountenanced. 
Bp.  Burnet  is  remarkably  strong  and  decisive 
upon  the  question  :  so  that  we  cannot  do  better 
than  let  him  be  the  first  spokesman. 

*  Bp.  Wilkins  on  Prayer,  c.  xvii. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.         S71 

Baptism  snakes  us  the  visible  members  of  that 
one  body,  into  which  we  are  baptized  or  admitted 
by  Baptism :  but  that,  which  saves  us  in  it,  which 
both  deadens  and  quickens  us,  must  be  a  thing  of 
another  nature — This  is  not  to  be  believed  to  be 
of  the  nature  of  a  charm,  as  if  the  very  act  of  Bap- 
tism carried  always  with  it  an  inxvard  Regener- 
ation, Here  we  must  confess,  that  very  early  some 
doctrines  arose  upon  Baptism  that  we  cannot  be 
determijied  by — One  of  these  was  the  mixing  of 
the  outward  and  the  inward  effects  of  Baptism ;  it 
being  believed,  that  every  person  that  was  born  of 
the  water  was  also  born  of  the  Spirit,  and  that 
the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost  did  not  always 
accompany  the  washing  of  Regeneration.^  And 
this  obliged  St.  Austin  to  make  that  difference  be- 
tween the  Regenerate  and  the  predestinated :  for 
he  thought,  that  all  who  were  baptized  were  also 

*  I  have  already  noticed  the  gross  immoral  tendency  of  this 
superstition,  as  it  displayed  itself  in  the  third  and  fourth  cen- 
turies. Men  systematically  refused  to  be  baptized,  in  order 
that  they  might  freely  live  in  sin  :  for,  Baptism  and  Regener- 
ation being  in  the  fashionable  theology  of  the  day  esteemed 
inseparable^  all  that  they  had  to  do  to  make  sure  of  heaven 
was  to  be  baptized  in  the  article  of  death. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  premises,  no  one  can  de- 
ny that  the  conclusion  from  such  premises  was  strictly  logical. 
The  reasoyihig  was  accurate  enough  :  but,  unfortunately,  the 
basis  was  asswned  as  truth,  instead  of  being  demonstrated  to 
be  so. 


27S  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

rege7ierated — But  Baptism  is  a  federal  admission 
into  Christianity:  in  which,  on  God'>s  part,  all 
the  blessijigs  of  the  Gospel  are  made  over  to  the 
baptized ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  person  bap- 
tized takes  on  him,  by  a  solemn  profession  and 
voxv,  to  obsei^e  and  adhere  to  the  whole  Christian 
religion.  So  that  it  is  a  very  natural  distinc- 
tion to  say,  that  the  outward  effects  of  Baptism 
follow  it  as  outwardly  performed,  hut  that  the  in- 
ward effects  of  it  follow  upon  the  inward  acts. 
But  this  difference  is  still  to  be  observed  between 
inward  acts  and  outward  actions,  that  when  the 
outward  action  is  rightly  performed,  the  Church 
must  reckon  the  Baptism  good  and  never  renew 
it :  but,  if  one  has  been  wanting  in  the  inward 
acts,  these  may  he  afterwards  renewed  and  that 
WANT  may  be  made  up  by  repentance.^' 


*  Bp.  Burnet  on  the  Articles.  Art.  xxvii.  p.  382,  383, 
384.  Oxon.  I  cannot  refrain  from  taking  this  opportunity  of 
noticing,  in  terms  of  deserved  commendation,  the  service 
which  the  University  of  Oxford  has  rendered  to  sound  Chris- 
tianity, by  reprinting  beautiful  and  convenient  editions  of  our 
standard  earlier  divines.  Thus,  as  far  as  in  them  lies,  the 
leading  members  of  that  great  seminary  have  laudably  stepped 
forward  to  oppose  the  groundless  notion  that  Boptism  and  Re- 
generation are  inseparable :  for  those  divines,  thus  prominent- 
ly brought  forward  to  the  public  notice  under  academical 
sanction,  are  unanimous,  we  see,  in  protesting  against  the  un- 
scriptural  dogma  now  under  discussion. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,        373 

Nothing  can  be  more  explicit  than  the  truly 
orthodox  passage,  which  I  have  just  cited.  The 
bishop  begins  with  stating,  that  we  are  not  su- 
perstitiously  to  fancy  that  the  very  act  of  Bap- 
tism, like  some  magical  charm,  carries  always 
with  it  an  inward  Regeneration  ;  though  he  ac- 
knowledges, that  the  corruption  crept  very  ear- 
ly into  the  Christian  Church.  We  however^  says 
he,  of  the  Anglican  Church  cannot  he  determined 
by  any  such  abuse  of  sound  doctrine.  Our  senti' 
merits  are  widely  different.  If  the  inward  grace 
of  Regeneration  has  te^/ wanting  to  the  outward 
act  of  Baptism,  that  want  must  afterwards  be 
made  up. 

14.  To  the  same  effect  also  speaks  Dr.  Isaac 
Barrow. 

We  are  naturally  void  of  those  good  disposi- 
tions in  u?idersta?iding,  will,  and  affections  ;  which 
are  needful  to  render  us  acceptable  unto  God,  fit 
to  serve  and  please  him,  capable  of  a?iy  favour 
from  him  and  ofariy  true  happiness  in  ourselves. 
To  remove  which  bad  dispositions,  and  to  beget 
those  contrary  to  them,  God  in  mercy  doth  grant 
to  us  the  virtue  of  his  Holy  Spirit  ;  who,  first 
opening  our  hearts,  begetteth  divine  knowledge, 
wisdom,  and  faith,  in  our  minds,  which  is  the 
work  of  illumination  and  instruction.  Then  by 
continual  impressions  he  bendeth  our  inclinations, 
and  mollifieth  our  hearts,  and  tempereth  our  af 

Faber,  36 


^74)        The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

fedions  to  a  willing  compliance  with  God'>s  will 
and  a  hearty  complacence  in  that  which  is  good 
and  pleasing  to  God :  which  is  the  work  of  Sane- 
fificatioTi,  another  great  part  of  his  office.  Both 
these  operations  together  (Enlightening  our  minds^ 
and  Sanctifying  our  wills  and  affections)  do  con- 
stitute and  accomplish  that  work,  which  is  styled 
the  Regeneration,  Renovation,  Vivification,  New 
Creation,  Resurrection,  of  a  man:  the  faculties  of 
our  souls  being  so  improved,  that  we  become,  as 
it  rvere,  other  men  thereby  ;  able  and  apt  to  do 
that,  for  which  before  we  were  altogether  i?idis- 
posed  and  unfit. "^ 

It  is  perfectly  evident,  that  Dr.  Barrow  is  here 
speaking,  not  of  pagans  who  never  heard  the 
sound  of  the  Gospel,  nor  yet  oi  infants  who  from 
the  circumstance  of  their  infancy  are  necessarily 
mcdii^dhl^  oi knowledge  and  wisdom  and/a?Y/«and 
a  hearty  complasence  in  that  which  is  good  and 
pleasing  to  God ;  but  of  baptized  adidts  in  a  Chris- 
tian^ Church,  for  to  them,  and  to  them  only,  is 
such  language  appUcable.  Now  he  tells  us,  that 
the  Enlightening  the  minds  of  these  adults,  so 
that  they  shall  henceforth  possess  divine  know- 
ledge and  wisdom  and  faith ;  and  the  Sanctify- 
ing their  wills  and  affections,  so  that  henceforth 
they  shall  cheerfully  comply  with  God's  will  and 

*  Barrow's  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  504. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.        275 

feel  a  hearty  complacence  in  that  which  is  good 
and  pleasing  to  him  :  he  tells  us,  that  these  two 
operations,  which  inevitably  presuppose  the  sub- 
ject of  them  to  be  an  adult,  do  constitute  and  ac- 
complish that  work  which  is  styled  the  Regenera- 
tion of  a  man.  But  this  he  plainly  could  not 
have  told  us,  unless  he  had  held,  that  a  baptized 
adult,  notwithstanding  his  Baptism,  might  yet 
have  never  received  the  inward  grace  of  spiritual 
Regeneration  :  for,  if  he  had  believed  that  every 
baptized  person  was  thence  ipso  facto  regene- 
rate, the  whole  tenor  of  his  discourse  were  to 
all  intents  and  purposes  nugatory  and  imperti- 
nent. We  may  conclude  therefore,  that  Dr. 
Barrow,  like  the  other  eminent  divines  who  have 
been  already  adduced,  held  the  sound  doctrine, 
that  Baptism  may  be  outwardly  administered 
without  having  for  its  necessary  concomitant  the 
inward  grace  of  Regeneration. 

15.  Yet  more  strong  and  decisive  on  the 
point  is  Abp.  Tillotson,  whose  opinion  may  here 
be  cited  with  peculiar  advantage,  because  he  is 
so  generally  esteemed  the  very  standard  of  An- 
glican orthodoxy. 

Speaking  of  the  final  prevalence  of  grace  over 
nature  in  those  adults,  who  are  really  sanctified 
by  the  blessed  Spirit ;  an  operation,  which  with 
much  justice  he  had  previously  stated  to  be  im- 
mediately connected  with  Regeneration,  the  two 


S76  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

being  equally  ascribed  in  Holy  Writ  to  the  Spirit 
of  God  and  to  the  word  of  God :  speaking  of  the 
final  prevalence  of  grace  over  nature  in  all  truly 
sanctified  adults^  the  archbishop  proceeds.  Af- 
ter many  strugglings  and  conflicts  with  their  lusts 
and  the  strong  bias  of  evil  habits^  this  resolution, 
assisted  by  the  grace  of  God,  does  effectually  pre- 
vail and  make  a  real  change  both  in  the  temper  of 
their  minds  arid  the  course  of  their  lives :  and, 

WHEN  THAT  IS  DONE,    AND     NOT    BEFORE,  THEY 
ARE   SAID    TO    BE    REGENERATE.* 

Here  we  see,  that  the  archbishop,  like  his  ve- 
nerable predecessors  in  the  Church,  ascribes  Re- 
generation and  its  consequent  Sanctification  to 
a  spiritual  hearing  of  God's  word,  which  of  course 
none  but  an  adidt  can  do  ;  for  it  is  physically  im- 
possible, that  a  child  of  a  month  old  should  de- 
rive any  benefit  from  hearing  God's  word.  And, 
agreeably  to  this  very  accurate  view  of  the  sub- 
ject he  afterwards  describes  an  internal  conflict 
and  victory,  the  lusts  and  evil  habits  of  the  flesh 
striving  against  that  better  resolution  which  is 
injected  into  the  soul  by  the  Divine  Spirit:  a  con- 
flict therefore  which  can  only  be  experiencedj 
and  a  victory  which  can  only  be  gained  by  an 
adult.  Having  thus  stated  the  matter,  he  con- 
cludes with  pronouncing,  that  men  are  said  to 

^  Abp.  Tillotson's  Serrn.  on  Gal.  vi.  15. 


TJie  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,        ^*:f7 

be  regenerate,  when  a  real  change  has  taken 
place  both  in  the  temper  of  their  minds  and  in 
the  course  of  their  lives  :  and,  as  if  to  cut  off  all 
occasion  of  cavil  on  the  part  of  the  unorthodox, 
he  adds,  that  v^e  are  only  to  deem  men  regene- 
rate, v^hen  this  change  has  actually  taken  place, 
AND  NOT  BEFORE,  though  they  may  have  been 
regularly  baptized  with  water  in  their  infancy. 

16.  Descending  a  step  nearer  to  our  own 
times,  let  us  next  attend  to  the  language  used  by 
that  close  and  proverbially  acute  reasoner,  Bp. 
Butler. 

If  mankind  are  corrupted  and  depraved  in 
their  moral  character  and  so  are  unfit  for  that 
state  which  Christ  is  gone  to  prepare  for  his  dis- 
ciples^ and  if  the  assistance  of  God^s  Spirit  he  ne- 
cessary to  renew  their  nature  in  the  degree  requi- 
site to  their  being  qualified  for  that  state ;  all 
which  is  implied  in  the  express  though  figurative 
declaration,  Except  a  man  be  born  of  the  Spirit, 
he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  :  sup- 
posing this,  is  it  possible  that  any  serious  perso?i 
can  think  it  a  slight  matter,  whether  or  no  he 
makes  use  of  the  means,  expressly  commanded  by 
God,  for  obtaining  this  divine  assistance  ?  Es- 
pecially since  the  whole  analogy  of  nature  shews, 
that  we  are  not  to  expect  any  benefits  without 


278        The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

making  use  of  the  appointed  means  for  obtaining 
or  enjoying  them.* 

Such  language  as  this  could  obviously  have 
never  been  used  by  one,  v^ho  held  the  notion 
that  all  baptized  infants  are  by  the  very  circum- 
stance of  their  Baptism  spiritually  regenerate. 
So  far  from  Bp.  Butler  being  an  advocate  for 
this  groundless  fancy,  his  whole  argument  ne- 
cessarily supposes  that  the  very  opposite  doc- 
trine is  to  be  received  as  an  undoubted  truth. 

He  begins  with  stating,  that  depraved  man  is 
naturally  unfit  for  heaven.  Next  he  intimates, 
that,  in  order  to  his  being  qualified  for  the  pre- 
sence of  God,  his  nature  must  be  renewed  by  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Then  he  informs  us,  that  the  whole 
of  this  is  implied  and  set  forth  in  our  Lord's  fi- 
gurative declaration.  Except  a  man  be  born  of  the 
Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Having  thus  opened  the  doctrine  in  a  manner 
quite  agreeable  to  Scripture,  he  very  solemnly 
and  emphatically  asks,  how  any  serious  and 
thinking  person  can  deem  it  a  sHght  matter, 
whether  or  no  he  (namely  the  serious  person) 
makes  use  of  the  means,  expressly  appointed  by 
God,  for  obtaining  this  divine  assistance  in  order 
to  his  being  born  again  ?  Now  the  serious  per- 
son, who  is  to  make  use  of  means  that  he  may 

*  Bp.  Butler's  Anal,  part  ii.  c.  1. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,        279 

be  spiritually  regenerated  and  so  become  quali- 
fied for  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  is  plainly  no 
mfant  in  his  nurse's  arms:  for  how  can  an  infant 
think  at  all  upon  the  subject,  whether  a  neglect 
of  the  means  be  or  be  not  a  slight  matter ;  which 
yet  the  serious  person  is  exhorted  to  do.  The 
serious  or  thinking  person  therefore,  who  has 
need  of  spiritual  Regeneration,  and  who  accord- 
ingly is  advised  to  seek  the  divine  assistance  in 
order  to  it,  is  manifestly  an  adult.  But  the  whole 
tenor  of  the  argument  shews,  that  he  is  not  a 
pagan  adult  who  is  altogether  ignorant  of  God's 
revealed  will,  but  a  baptized  adult  in  a  Christian 
Church  who  fully  acknowledges  the  authority  of 
Scripture  and  who  is  thence  addressed  as  one 
who  does  ftdly  acknowledge  it.  Therefore,  in 
the  judgment  of  Bp.  Butler,  a  baptized  adult 
might  still  want  spiritual  Regeneration,  and 
might  therefore  be  properly  exhorted  to  use  the 
appointed  means  for  obtaining  it.  These  means, 
expressly  commanded  by  God,  are  the  diligent 
hearing  of  his  holy  word ;  as  most  of  the  di- 
vines, whose  opinions  have  passed  in  review 
before  us,  very  soundly  maintain  :  agreeably  to 
that  of  St.  Peter,  Being  born  again,  not  of  corrup- 
tible seed  but  of  incorruptible,  by  the  word  of  God 
which  liveth  and  abideth  for  ever* 

*  1  Peter,  i.  23. 


280         The  Boctrine  of  Regeneration, 

17.  Nor  is  the  genuine  doctrine  of  the  An- 
ghcan  Church  respecting  the  matter  of  Regene- 
ration without  its  advocates  even  in  the  present 
day,  though  some  individuals  may  have  unhap- 
pily turned  aside  from  the  faith  once  delivered 
to  the  saints.  Out  of  these,  it  will  be  amply 
sufficient  to  my  purpose,  if  I  select  two,  whose 
names  are  deservedly  held  in  reverence  by 
every  orthodox  and  sober-minded  churchman. 

The  sentiments  of  Bp.  Horsley  are  conveyed 
in  the  following  sufficiently  explicit  passage. 

That  image  of  God,  in  which  Adam  was  crea- 
ted, in  our  Lord  appeared  perfect  and  entire  ;  in 
the  unspotted  innocency  of  his  life,  the  sanctity  of 
his  manners,  and  his  perfect  obedience  to  the  Law 
of  God  :  in  the  vast  powers  of  his  mind,  intellec- 
tual and  moral ;  intellectual,  in  his  comprehen- 
sion of  all  knowledge  ;  moral,  in  his  power  of  re- 
sisting all  the  allurements  of  vice  and  of  encoun- 
tering all  the  difficulties  of  virtue  and  religion — 
In  hi?n,  the  beauty  of  the  divine  image  was  refid- 
gent  in  its  original  perfection  :  in  all  the  sons  of 
Mam,  it  is  obscured  and  marred  in  a  degree  to  be 
scarce  perceptible ;  the  will  depraved,  the  imagi- 
nation debauched,  the  reason  weak,  the  passions 
rampant  !  This  deformity  is  not  externally  visi- 
ble, nor  the  spiritual  beauty  which  is  its  opposite  : 
bid,  coidd  the  eye  be  turned  upon  the  internal  man. 
we  should  see  the  hideous  shape  of  a  will  at  enmi- 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.  281 

ty  with  God,  a  heart  disregarding  his  Law,  in- 
sensible of  his  goodness,  fearless  of  his  wrath, 
swelling  with  the  passions  of  ambition,  avarice, 
vain  glory,  lust.  Yet  this  is  the  picture  of  the 
UNRE  GENE  RATED  MAN  by  the  depravity  conse- 
quent upon  the  fall,  born  in  iniquity  and  conceiv- 
ed in  sin.* 

Would  we  know  the  sentiments  of  this  truly 
orthodox  and  learned  prelate  on  the  subject  of 
Baptism,  we  have  simply  to  ascertain  what  sort 
of  person  he  is  describing  to  us  in  his  accurate 
and  highly- wrought  picture  of  the  unregenerated 
man. 

The  person  then,  whose  mental  lineaments 
he  exhibits,  is  clearly  not  an  infant ;  because 
certain  operations  of  the  soul  are  attributed  to 
him,  which  cannot  be  predicated  of  a  mere 
child  as  yet  unconscious  how  to  refuse  the  evil 
and  choose  the  good.-f  A  babe  at  the  breast  can- 
not be  said  to  disregard  God^s  Law,  to  be  insen- 
sible of  his  goodness,  to  be  fearless  of  his  wrath, 
and  to  swell  with  the  passions  of  ambition,  avar- 
ice, vain  glory,  lust.  Such  language,  on  the 
very  face  of  it,  is  solely  applicable  to  an  adult 
and  not  an  infant. 


*  Bp.  Horsley's  Sermons,  vol.  i.  serm.  V.  p.  94,  95. 
f  Isaiah  vii.  16. 

Faber.     37 


282         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

He  is  not  however  an  adult  only,  as  contra- 
distijiguished  from  an  infant :  he  is  likewise  a 
baptized  adult  in  a  Christian  Church,  as  contra- 
distinguished from  an  unhaptized  adidt  in  a  heathen 
community.  The  bishop,  at  the  commeiv^ement 
of  the  description,  rightly  states  in  general 
terms,  that  the  divine  image  is  obscured  and 
marred  in  all  the  sons  of  Adam  :  but,  as  he  had 
to  deal  with  a  congregation,  every  member  of 
which  professed  his  belief  in  the  Gospel,  he 
turns  immediately  to  what  would  be  much  more 
edifying  to  such  a  congregation  ;  namely  the 
condition  of  some,  who  had  been  baptized,  and 
who  were  nevertheless  still  in  the  very  bondage 
of  iniquity.  The  unregenercded  man,  whom  he 
would  specifically  hold  up  to  the  serious  atten- 
tion of  all  his  hearers,  is  a  person,  who  disre- 
gards the  Laxv  of  God,  and  whose  heart  swells 
ivith  the  passions  of  ambition  and  avarice  and 
lust  and  vain  glory.  This  unregenerated  man 
therefore  knoivs  the  revealed  Law  of  God ;  for 
we  cannot  be  said  to  disregard  that,  of  which  we 
are  wholly  ignorant :  he  knows  it  however  only 
to  refuse  obedience  to  its  precepts  ;  for  his  heart, 
being  as  yet  unchanged  by  grace,  swells  with 
every  evil  and  fiendUke  passion.  Hence  it  is 
clear,  that  the  bishop  is  describing  a  man,  who 
has  been  duly  baptized,  and  who  from  his  youth 
by  reason  of  a  Christian  education  lias  specula- 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.        S8S 

lively  known  the  revealed  Law  of  God :  a  man 
nevertheless,  who  knows  that  Law  only  to  dis- 
regard it,  and  who  (like  too  many  nominal  be- 
lievers) bears  within  him  a  heart  perfectly  un- 
reclaimed and  altogether  disobedient.  There- 
fore the  unregenerated  ma?i,  whom  the  bishop 
describes,  is  no  ignorant  pagan  adult,  but  a  bap- 
tized adidt  in  a  Christian  Church. 

Hence  it  is  evident,  that,  in  the  opinion  of  Bp. 
Horsley,  a  baptized  adult,  living  outwardly  in  the 
pale  of  a  Christian  Church,  and  knowing  though 
disregarding  the  Law  of  God,  might  be  appro- 
priately designated  by  the  title  of  a7i  unregener- 
ated  mem. 

18.  Exactly  similar  is  the  doctrine  of  the  ven- 
erable and  excellent  Bp.  Barrington,  as  authori- 
tatively delivered  to  his  clergy  from  the  chair 
which  he  has  so  long  worthily  filled. 

It  cannot  be  from  any  defect  of  external  evi- 
dence, that  our  modern  philosophers  deny  or  doubt 
the  tridh  of  Christianity.  JVo :  it  is  an  uncon- 
sciousness of  their  want  of  a  Redeemer  that  ob- 
structs the  light  of  the  Gospel ;  it  is  the  vanity  of  a 
disputatious  temper ;  the  hardness  of  an  unhum- 
bled  heaH ;  the  opposing  interests  of  a  worldly 
spirit.  In  short,  it  is  the  repugnance  and  delu- 
sion    of  AN   UNREGENERATED    MIND,   that    bUnds 


284  The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

them  against  the  plainest  and  most  obvious  conclu- 
sions.^ 

The  modern  philosophers^  to  whom  the  bishop 
here  alludes,  are  Vohaire,  Gibbon,  Hume,  and 
others  of  a  similar  stamp  ;  as  appears  from  his 
immediately  afterwards  specially  adducing  the 
notorious  Thomas  Paine  as  an  example.  Now 
all  these  men  had  been  baptized  in  their  infan- 
cy, and  during  their  youth  had  been  brought  up 
in  outward  conformity  to  a  Christian  Church : 
therefore,  according  to  the  extraordinary  theory 
which  inseparably  ties  Regeneration  to  Baptism, 
they  were  all  spiritually  regenerate,  notwith- 
standing their  avowed  and  open  infidelity.  The 
pious  bishop  of  Durham  however,  both  with 
much  sound  sense  and  much  scriptural  know- 
ledge, scruples  not  to  ascribe  their  unbelief  to 
the  repugnance  and  delusion  of  an  unre genera- 
ted MIND.  Thus  he  gives  it  as  his  decided 
opinion,  an  opinion  in  whicli  all  the  eminent  di- 
vines already  cited  would  heartily  agree  with 
him,  that  the  baptized  philosophers,  of  whom 
he  is  speaking,  shewed  plainly  by  their  deeds, 
that,  notwithstanding  their  Baptism,  they  had 
never  received  the  grace  of  spiritual  Regenera- 
tion. 

*  Charge  to  the  clergy  of  Durham  in  1 797.  in  Sermons, 
Charges,  and  Tracts,  p.  211,  212, 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         285 

There  is  in  our  corrupt  and  imreformed  nature 
an  indolence^  a  sloth,  a  reluctance  to  the  constant 
and  regidar  performance  even  of  the  ordinary  du- 
ties of  religion ;  which,  to  many,  renders  prayer  a 
burden,  and  the  public  service  of  God  a  wearisome 
constraint  instead  of  perfect  freedom — To  the  re- 
generate Christian,  to  the  new  man  created  in 
Christ  Jesus  to  good  works,  created  after  God  in 
righteousness  and  true  holiness,  the  yoke  of  Christ 
is  certainly  easy,  and  his  burden  light :  but  to  the 
corrupt  passions  of  mere  animal  nature,  to  the  sel- 
fish inclinations  of  the  old  man,  nothing  can  be 
more  irksome  andpainfid,* 

In  this  passage  the  bishop  describes,  with 
much  accurate  knowledge  of  the  human  heart, 
two  different  classes  of  men,  which  equally 
though  with  very  dissimilar  feelings  attend  the 
public  worship  of  the  Church,  which  equally 
therefore  consist  of  professed  and  baptized 
Christians.  The  first  of  these  classes  he  repre- 
sents, as  being  yet  in  a  state  of  corrupt  and  un- 
reformed  nature,  and  as  experiencing  all  the  sel- 
fish inclinations  of  the  old  man  :  the  second  of 
them  he  exhibits,  as  comprehending  no  one  save 
the  REGENERATE  Christian  or  the  new  man  cre- 
ated in  Christ   Jesus  to  good  works.    Nothing 

*  Charge  to  the  clergy  of  Durham  in  1801.  in  Sermons^ 
Charges,  and  Tracts,  p.  297,  298. 


S86         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration, 

can  be  more  agreeable  either  to  Scripture  or  to 
actual  matter  of  fact,  than  such  an  arrange- 
ment :  but  then  the  conclusion  from  it  is  abun- 
dantly obvious.  Though  the  bishop  is  speaking 
of  none  but  baptized  persons,  he  most  soundly 
pronounces,  that  some  only  of  these  baptized 
persons  are  regenerate  Christians  and  new 
men,  while  others  of  them  still  remain  in  the  un- 
reformed  or  unregenerated  nature  of  the  old 
man. 

Lest  howevei'  the  great  and  precious  promises 
of  God  should  he  urested  to  sinister  purposes,  your 
hearers  should  be  sedulously  taught,  that  without 
sanctification  there  can  be  for  them  no  atonement: 
for  them  Christ  will  have  died  in  vain  ;  they  will 
be,  on  the  authority  of  St.  Paul,  still  in  their  sins, 
that  is,  obnoxious  to  the  curse  and  punishment  of 
sin.  It  is  true  indeed,  that,  whom  God  is  willing 
to  justify,  he  sanctifies;  and  he  sanctifies  whom  he 
will :  for  he  hath  mercy,  on  whom  he  will  have 
mercy ;  and,  whom  he  will,  he  hardeneth  ;  that 
is,  he  leaves  the  sinner  to  the  natural  corruption 
of  his  own  heart  and  the  unsubdued  power  of  sin, 
Tlie  sinner,  who  is  thus  left,  continues  an  unre- 
GENERATE  ujid  UN  SANCTIFIED,  that  is,  ill  a  rcpro- 
bate  and  lost,  state.* 

*  Charge  to  the  clergy  of  Durham  in  1801.  in  Sermons, 
Charges,  and  Tracts,  p.  310. 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.        287 

As  the  bishop  is  here  instructing  his  clergy 
how  they  ought  to  teach  their  hearers,  those 
hearers  are  of  course  baptized  persons  within 
the  pale  of  the  English  Church.  Yet  he  sup- 
poses it  to  be  very  probable,  that,  in  the  course 
of  their  ministry,  they  may  have  to  deal  with 
persons,  who,  notwithstanding  their  Baptism, 
being  left  by  the  sovereign  will  of  God  to  the 
natural  corruption  of  their  own  hearts,  conti- 
nue in  an  unregenerate  and  unsanctified  condi- 
tion. 

From  the  Scriptures  we  must  collect,  what  hu- 
man nature  was  at  first,  and  what  it  soon  became. 
From  the  world  at  present  and  from  our  own 
hearts  we  inust  learn,  what  it  is  now.  A  serious, 
and  impartial  study  of  human  nature,  as  exhibited 
in  the  Scriptures,  the  world,  and  ourselves,  will 
lead  to  the  same  unavoidable  conviction,  and  shew 
what  our  nature  became,  when  left  to  itself,  when 
turned  from  God  to  the  world,  from  light  to  dark- 
ness, from  holy  obedience  to  earthly  and  sensual 
appetites.  Upon  this  foundation  may  be  built  those 
humiliating  considerations,  which  are  most  in  con- 
sonance xvith  the  end  of  our  Saviour^s  incarna-' 
tion :  and  in  this  view  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  con- 
vifice  an  unhardened  mind,  thrt  the  heart  of  the 
disobedient  can  never  be  turned  to  the  wisdom  of 
the  just  and  restored  to  the  image  of  the  divine 
goodness  in  which  it  was  created,  but  by  repent- 


S88         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration. 

ance  towards  God  and  faith  towards  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  In  a  state  of  sincere  repentance  and 
true  faith  the  mind  has  acquired  that  Jiewness  of 
spirit  and  rectitude  of  heart,  which  constitutes  the 
NEW  BIRTH,  and  is  the  source  of  every  spiritual 
comfort  here  and  all  our  hopes  hereafter.* 

This  passage  is  so  explicit,  that  it  scarcely  re- 
quires any  comment.  The  bishop  enforces  it 
upon  his  clergy  to  teach  their  people,  that  the 
heart  of  the  disobedient  can  only  be  turned  to 
the  wisdom  of  the  just  and  restored  to  the 
image  of  the  divine  goodness,  in  other  words, 
can  only  be  regenerated,  by  repentance  towards 
God  and  faith  towards  Christ :  and  he  then  adds, 
that  it  is  in  this  state  of  sincere  repentance  and 
true  faith  that  the  mind  acquires  that  newness  of 
spirit  and  rectitude  of  heart  which  constitutes 
the  New  Birth  or  Regeneration.  Such  language 
is  solely  applicable  to  adults.  Consequently 
this  sound  and  orthodox  prelate  rightly  informs 
us,  that,  however  a  man  may  have  been  baptized 
in  his  infancy,  he  cannot  be  deemed  regenerate, 
until  by  repentance  and  faith  his  mind  shall  have 
acquired  that  newness  of  spirit  and  rectitude  of 
heart  which  constitutes  the  New  Birth.  Unless 
he  can  produce  this  evidence  of  spiritual  Rq^q- 

*  Charge  to  the  clergy  of  Durham  in  1801,  in  Sermons, 
Charges,  and  Tracts,  p.  311,  312. 


The  Doctine  of  Regeneration.  289 

neration,  he  is  as  yet  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins,  notwithstanding  his  admission  by  the  water 
of  Baptisjn  into  the  visible  Church  of  Christ. 

Such  in  all  ages  has  ever  been  the  language 
of  the  best  reformed  English  divines  ;  and  hap- 
py is  the  lot  of  the  clergy,  who  receive  from 
their  spiritual  superior  such  instructions  as  to 
the  proper  mode  of  feeding  their  respective 
flocks  ! 

II.  It  were  easy  to  adduce  many  others,  who 
still,  with  strict  uniformity,  maintain  the  same 
truly  scriptural  doctrine  :  but  it  may  amply  suf- 
fice to  have  brought  forward  eighteen  prelates 
and  ten  distinguished  presbyters  of  the  Church 
of  England  and  Ireland,  in  regular  succession 
from  the  time  of  the  Reformation  down  even  to 
the  present  day. 

As  protestants,  indeed,  we  claim  to  call  no 
man  master  save  Christ  alone ;  nor  do  we  hold 
our^lves  bound  by  the  authority  of  these  emi- 
nent divines  one  jot  further,  than  as  the  opiidon 
which  they  advocate  may  be  proved  by  most  cer- 
tain warrant  of  Holy  Writ.  They  have  not 
therefore  been  alleged,  in  order  to  establish  a  doc- 
trine ;  but  iji  order  to  shew,  that,  as  a  particular 
doctrine  is  the  undoubted  doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
England,  so  that  particular  doctrine  has  been  con- 
sistently enforced  in  every  age  since  the  Reforma- 

Faber,  38 


290         The  Boctrine  of  Regeneration, 

tion  by  the  best  and  most  oiihodox  divines  of  that 
Church. 

This  task  has  now  been  performed  at  consi- 
derable length  :  and  it  is  to  be  hoped,  that  in  fu- 
ture we  may  no  longer  be  encountered  by  the 
iiardy,  thougli  ignorantly  rash,  assertions,  that 
the  Church  of  England  and  all  her  soundest  di- 
vines in  every  age  concur  in  teaching  the  neces- 
sary inseparability  of  Baptism  and  Regeneration, 
and  that  the  Regeneration  by  God^s  Blessed  Spirit 
of  those  who  have  been  already  baptized  is  a  mere 
novel  doctrine  by  which  in  the  present  day  the 
weakness  of  palpable  credulity  can  alone  be  im- 
posed upo?i. 

An  overweening  confidence  is  no  sure  proof 
of  strength  :  and  the  vain  affectation  of  superi- 
ority, evinced  by  such  language,  is  rendered 
doubly  indecorous  by  tlie  unfortunate  circum- 
stance of  its  direct  contrariety  to  matter  of  fact. 
The  doctrine  of  Scripture,  of  the  English  Chfirch, 
and  of  the  best  divines  of  that  Church  in  every 
age  since  the  Reformation,  is,  that  Baptism  and 
Regeneration  are  not  inseparable:  and,  as  for 
the  charge  of  a  weak  credulity  which  has  been 
so  incautiously  made  against  those  who  advo- 
cate tliis  sound  and  orthodox  tenet,  it  may,  I 
apprehend,  be  retorted  (if  need  were)  with  two- 
fold energy  against  persons  ;  who  can  believe, 
against  even  the  very  evidence  of  actual  matter 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration.        S9l 

of  fact  ^  that  an  outward  symbolical  sprirkling  of 
water  invariably  produces  a  complete  inward 
change  of  the  human  soul  in  all  its  operations 
and  affections.  He  who,  without  a  shadow  of 
proof  from  either  Scripture  or  Reason,  can  be- 
lieve so  marvellous  an  alleged  fact  as  this,  stands 
prepared  to  admit,  as  an  undoubted  verity, 
Transubstantiation,  or  any  other  monstrous  fig- 
ment, provided  only  it  be  imposed  upon  him  in 
a  high  tone  of  authoritative  confidence.  But  he, 
who  beholds  a  neighbour  turned  from  darkness 
to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God ; 
who  perceives,  by  the  decisive  evidence  of  per- 
fectly altered  affections  and  an  entirely  changed 
course  of  life,  that  this  neighbour  is  altogether 
a  different  man  from  what  he  heretofore  was ; 
and  who  reads  in  his  Bible,  that  precisely  such  a 
change  is  styled  Regeneration,  and  that  it  is  ab- 
solutely necessary  for  admission  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  :  he,  who  sees  all  this  with  his 
own  eyes,  and  Avho  thence  believes  that  his 
neighbour  has  been  born  again  by  the  word  of 
God,  acts,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  only  accordhig 
to  the  dictates  of  right  reason  :  for  he  believes, 
not  because  he  is  credulous,  but  because  he  can- 
not avoid  believing  ;  not  because  he  wishes  to 
impose  upon  himself,  but  because  facts  irresist- 
ibly compel  him  to  beheve.  In  reality,  he  is  by 
no  means  the  only  person,  Avho  discovers  the 


39S         The  Doctrine  of  Regeneratmi. 

change  in  question.  The  world  is  quick-sighted 
enough  in  this  particular :  and  it  ordinarily  evin- 
ces its  dislike  to  the  alteration,  by  greeting  the 
subject  of  it  with  sundry  compellations  suffi- 
ciently expressive  of  its  disapproval.  Thus  it 
is  manifest,  that,  in  the  one  case,  belief  rests 
u\)on fads:  while,  in  the  other  case,  it  not  only 
does  not  rest  upon  facts,  but  is  taken  up  in  direct 
contradiction  to  them.  To  whom  therefore  the 
charge  of  a  blind  credulity  most  justly  applies, 
let  any  sober-minded  and  reasonable  enquirer 
determine. 

Mere  charges  however  on  either  side,  prove 
just  nothing  at  all,  so  far  as  the  real  merits  of  the 
question  are  concerned. 

These  must  intrinsically  be  determined  by 
Reason,  Experience,  and  Scripture  ;  which,  last 
indeed  in  enumeration  though /rs^  in  direct  au- 
thority, can  never  contradict  the  other  two. 
Thus,  and  thus  only,  must  the  merits  of  the 
question  be  intrinsically  determined. 

But,  when  we  are  gravely  assured,  that  the 
doctrine,  here  contended  for,  is  a  novel  doctrine, 
quite  unknown  to  the  Church  of  England  and  all 
her  best  divines  ;  and  when  we  are  further  told 
with  much  confidence,  that,  in  the  judgment  of 
that  Church,  it  is  a  dreadfully  unorthodox,  not  to 
say  an  heretical,  doctrine :  w^e  have  then  to  take 
a  different  ground  ;  andj  by  patiently  inquiring 


The  Doctrine  of  Regeneration,         S93 

what  the  English  Church  and  its  standard  di- 
vines really  do  say  on  the  subject,  we  have  next 
to  determine  the  merits  of  the  question  extrin- 
sically. 

Both  these  investigations  have  now  been  pain- 
fully  completed  :  and,  unless  some  very  strong 
evidence  should  arise  to  the  contrary,  evidence 
which  we  can  scarcely  expect  will  arise,  we 
seem  compelled  to  rest  in  the  general  conclu- 
sion, that  the  separability  of  Baptism  and  Regene^ 
ration  must  be  admitted  as  a  sound  and  ortho- 
dox doctrine,  while  the  inseparability  of  Baptism 
and  Regeneration  must  be  rejected  as  palpably 
unsound  and  unorthodox. 


SERMON  IX. 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 


MATT.    XXVIII.    19,    20. 

Go  ye  therefore  and  teach  all  nations  ;  baptizing  them  in 
the  name  of  the  Father ,  and  of  the  Son^  and  of  the  Ho- 
ly  Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  wJiatso- 
ever  I  have  commanded  you  :  and,  lo^  I  am  with  you 
alway  even  unto  the  end  of  the  -world. 

THE  rite  of  Baptism  by  water  had  been  in- 
stituted by  our  Lord  from  the  very  commence- 
ment of  his  ministry  ;  though,  after  himself  hsi^- 
tizing  his  earhest  followers,  he  committed  to 
them  the  task  of  similarly  initiating  into  his  reh- 
gion  those  who  should  subsequently  become  his 
disciples.*  But  the  authoritative  appointment 
of  it,  as  an  ordinance  of  perpetual  and  universal 
obligation^  did  not  take  place  until  after  the  re- 
surrection when  Jesus  was  on  the  eve  of  ascend- 

*  John  iii.  26.  iv.  1,  2. 


The  Mitiire  of  Baptism.  S95 

ing  to  the  right  hand  of  his  Father  in  heaven. 
Then  it  was,  that  his  apostles  formally  received 
their  commission,  to  bear  the  everlasting  Gospel 
to  the  utmost  extremities  of  the  habitable  globe, 
and  to  transmit  to  their  successors  the  same  au- 
thority as  what  had  been  conferred  upon  them- 
selves. For  then  it  was,  that  he  promised  to  be 
with  his  faithful  evangelists  to  the  very  end  of 
time  ;  supporting  them,  and  strengthening  them, 
and  ever  rendering  them  more  or  less  success- 
ful in  their  efforts,  until  at  length  the  universal 
earth  should  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord 
as  the  waters  cover  the  sea*  But  then  also  it 
was,  that  he  charged  his  appointed  servants  to 
admit  every  new  convert  into  the  fellowship  of 
his  Church  by  the  highly  significant  rite,  which 
was  already  familiar  to  them,  according  to  a  form 
of  words  specially  appointed  by  himself. 

The  commission,  as  it  is  exhibited  by  St. 
Matthew,  runs  in  the  following  terms.  Go  ye 
therefore  and  teach  all  nations;  baptizing  them 
in  the  name  of  the  Father^  and  of  the  Son^  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost;  teaching  them  to  observe  all 
things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you  :  and^ 
lo^  lam  with  you  alway  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
rvorld. 

*  Isaiah  xi,  9. 


S96  The  Kature  of  Baptism. 

By  St.  Mark,  in  the  parallel  passage,  it  is  ex- 
hibited imperfectly,  so  far  as  respects  the  form 
in  which  Baptism  was  to  be  administered  :  but 
this  evangelist  subjoins  a  very  important  declar- 
ation, which  is  omitted  by  the  other.  Go  ye  in- 
to  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature.  He,  that  believeth  and  is  baptized,  shall 
be  saved  ;  but  he,  that  believeth  not,  shall  be  damn- 
ed* 

I.  In  these  two  passages  viewed  conjointly, 
our  Lord  marks  out  the  obvious  and  natural 
course  to  be  observed  by  his  apostles  and  their 
successors  in  the  course  of  their  ministry ;  com- 
municates to  them  the  form,  in  which  he  would 
have  every  new  convert  baptized  ;  assigns  its 
respective  proper  dignity  to  Faith  and  Baptism  ; 
and  promises,  that,  although  invisible,  he  would 
never  cease  to  be  present  with  all  his  faithful 
evangelists,  until  the  grand  scheme  of  the  Chris- 
tian dispensation  should  be  finally  consummated. 

1.  The  first  step,  to  be  taken  by  the  apostles, 
was  to  go  forth  and  to  teach  all  nations,  or  rather 
(according  to  a  somewhat  more  exact  rendering 
of  the  original)  to  make  all  nations  their  disci- 
ples.\  This  attempt  is  expressed  by  St.  Mark, 
under  the  slightly  varied  though  synonymous 
terms,  of  going  out  into  all  the  world  and  preach- 

*  Mark  xvi.  15,  16.  f /»•«•(«»»■»«. 


The  Katiire  of  Baptism,  S97 

ing  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  The  making 
disciples  therefore  of  the  nations  was  to  be  ef- 
fected by  preaching  the  Gospel  to  them.  The 
apostles,  relying  upon  the  assistance  of  their  di- 
vine Master,  were  boldly  to  go  forth  among  a 
race  of  prejudiced  idolaters,  and  were  to  set 
forth  to  them  those  great  truths  which  peculiar- 
ly characterize  the  Gospel.  They  were  to  de- 
clare to  them,  that,  although  God  had  for  a  sea- 
son winked  at  an  almost  universal  apostacy  from 
his  holy  name  and  worship,  that  season  was  now 
gone  by.  They  were  to  assure  them,  that 
henceforth  one  Supreme  Being  was  to  be  ador- 
ed, though  after  such  a  manner  and  under  such 
a  dispensation  as  he  himself  had  chosen  to  re- 
veal. They  were  to  set  before  them  the  doc- 
trine of  the  fall  and  the  consequent  need  of  an 
atonement  by  which  sinful  man  might  be  recon- 
ciled to  his,€reator.  They  were  to  shew  them, 
that  an  illustrious  person  had  been  foretold  by 
the  ancient  prophets  of  a  nation,  which  had  been 
selected  by  the  Most  High,  as  the  depositary  of 
his  purposes,  and  as  the  instrument  of  preserv- 
ing the  doctrine  of  his  unity,  while  the  rest  of 
mankind  had  been  bewildered  in  the  thick  dark- 
ness of  Paganism  :  they  were  to  shew  them,  tliat 
by  those  ancient  prophets  an  illustrious  person 
had  been  foretold,  who  should  appear  on  earth 

at  a  distinctly  specified  time,  and  who  should 
Faher.       39 


298  The  Kature  of  Baptism, 

make  that  atonement  which  the  transgressions 
of  the  whole  human  race  had  rendered  so  impe- 
riously necessary.  They  were  then  to  convince 
them,  that  this  predicted  illustrious  person  had 
been  manifested,  and  had  made  atonement  for 
the  sins  of  the  world  by  his  voluntary  sacrifice 
of  himself  upon  the  cross.  They  were  to  teach 
them,  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  the  person  in 
question;  that  he  was  the  true  Messiah;  that 
he,  had  been  anointed  of  God  for  his  important 
office  ;  that  the  Holy  Spirit  had  been  poured  out 
upon  him  without  measure ;  that  he  had  been 
sent  to  save  and  redeem  all  mankind  from  their 
sins  here,  that  so  he  might  save  and  redeem 
them  from  eternal  misery  hereafter ;  that,  after 
a  life  of  unwearied  benevolence  and  unexam- 
pled purity,  he  had  submitted  to  a  painful  death  in 
their  stead,  thus  bearing  in  his  own  person  the 
wrath  justly  due  to  them  ;  and  that  tbis  self-de- 
votion had  been  freely  accepted  by  his  heavenly 
Father,  as  a  full  and  complete  ransom  for  those, 
who  must  otherwise,  on  the  unbending  princi- 
ples of  eternal  righteousness,  have  been  con- 
signed to  all  the  horrors  of  a  tremendous  pun- 
ishment. They  were  to  confirm  the  truth  of 
their  mission,  both  by  an  appeal  to  the  strong 
evidence  of  facts,  for  these  things  were  not  done 
in  a  corner ;  and  likewise  by  no  less  working 
miracles  themselves  of  a  most  stupendous  de- 


The  Nature  of  Baptism.  S99 

scrip tion,  than  by  communicating  the  same  pre- 
ternatural power  to  all  those  who  should  be- 
lieve in  the  holy  name  of  Jesus.*  Finally,  they 
were  to  offer  to  them  every  benefit  which  this 
great  deliverer  had  purchased :  they  were  to 
proclaim  a  free  pardon  of  sins  through  his  all- 
prevailing  merits:  they  were  to  exhort  them 
not  to  put  away  from  themselves  the  words  of 
eternal  life :  they  were  to  invite  them  to  receive 
the  Saviour,  as  their  king  and  their  priest  and 
their  prophet :  and  they  were  to  promise  to  all 
such,  as  should  hear  and  obey,  everlasting  hap- 
piness in  the  presence  of  God  whenever  they 
should  be  removed  from  the  fleeting  vanities  of 
this  sublunary  world. 

This  then  was  obviously  the  first  step,  which 
the  apostles  were  to  take.  As  the  gentiles  were 
ignorant  of  Christ,  they  were  to  declare  him  to 
them :  and  by  this  declaration  of  him  in  all  his 
offices,  which  is  equivalent  to  preaching  the 
Gospel  or  to  proclaiming  glad  tidings  of  eternal 
life,  they  were  to  labour  to  make  all  nations  their 
disciples.t 

*  Mark  xvi.  17,  18. 
f  By  the  first  teaching  or  making  of  disciples  that  must  go 
before  Baptism,  is  to  be  meant  the  convincing  of  the  world* 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  true  Messias,  anointed  of  God, 
with  a  fulness  of  grace  and  of  the  Spirit  without  measure,  and 
sent  to  be  the  Saviour  and  Redeemer  of  the  world.  Bp. 
Burnet  on  the  xxxix.  Art.  Art.  XXVII. 


300  The  Xature  of  Baptism. 

2.  If  they  met  with  success ;  if  any  one  pro- 
fessed himself  convinced  by  their  arguments  and 
desirous  of  receiving  Christ  as  his  Saviour :  they 
were  then  forthwith  to  baptize  him,  according  to 
the  form  which  their  Lord  had  prescribed,  i?i  the 
7iame  of  the  Father^  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

By  tliis  ceremony,  men  were  formally  admit- 
ted members  of  Christ's  Church,  though  as  yet 
but  imperfectly  instructed  in  the  great  Myste- 
ries of  the  Gospel.  They  had  shewn  a  good 
disposition  ;  they  had  given  reasonable  hopes  of 
their  sincerity,  by  the  willingness  which  they 
evinced  to  turn  from  darkness  to  light  ;  and 
they  had  listened  with  readiness  and  apparent 
conviction  to  the  apostolic  call.  Hence,  though 
God  only  could  read  their  hearts,  and  though  his 
servants  could  not  positively  pronounce  upon 
their  inward  condition  ;  they  were  in  no  wise  to 
detrude  them  from  the  right  of  Baptism,  on  the 
ground  that  they  might  prove  to  be  hypocrites 
or  unsound  or  instable.  Christ  himself i  in  com- 
mon with  the  other  apostles,  may  be  presumed 
to  have  baptized  tlie  traitor  Judas  ;  though,  as 

Christ  gave  order  to  his  apostles,  that,  after  they  have 
taught  and  men  believe,  they  shall  baptize  them  ;  that  so  they 
may  be  enrolled  amongst  those  of  the  household  of  God,  and 
entered  into  the  number  of  the  citizens  and  burgesses  of  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem.     Abp,  Usher's  Body  of  Div.  p.  388, 


The  Mitiire  of  Baptism,  301 

the  great  searcher  of  hearts,  he  distinctly  per- 
ceived his  glozing  avaricious  insincerity,  though 
he  saw  that  his  false  soul  had  no  love  either  for 
his  outwardly  acknowledged  Master  or  for  his 
doctrines,  and  though  he  clearly  foreknew  that 
he  would  sell  him  for  a   paltry  sum  of  money. 
If  the  Lord  then  was  pleased  to  admit  by  Bap- 
tism this  monster  into  his   Church,  though  per- 
fectly aware  of  his  real  disposition :  ill  might 
his  disciples  claim  the  right  of  repelling  any  ap- 
parently serious  person  from  the  holy  ordinance 
of  initiation,  on  the  plea  of  his  future  possible 
unworthiness  or  his  present  possible  insinceri- 
ty.    They  acted  accordingly  on  this  very  prin- 
ciple :  and  the  natural  result  was,  that  more  than 
one  person,  who  had  seemed  to  be  a  real  con- 
vert, was  added  to  the  Church  by  Baptism,  with- 
out being  added  to  our  Lord's  spiritual  members 
by  a  secret  mysterious  union  with  Christ  the 
head.     Of  this  inevitable  circumstance,  Ananias 
and  Sapphira,  Demas  and  Simon  Magus,  Hyme- 
neus  and  Philetus,  may  be  adduced  as  pregnant 
and  woeful  instances.     The  apostles  therefore 
were  not  to  be  deterred  from  baptizing  those, 
who   with    apparent    seriousness   might   offer 
themselves   for   Baptism  ;  though,   in    various 
cases,  they  might  thus  be  admitted  only  as  out- 
ward and   simulated  members  of  the  Church 


303  The  Nature  of  Baptism, 

without  deriving  any  inward  saving  benefit  by 
their  participation  of  the  ordinance,      a- 

After  they  had  now  been  initiated  into  the 
visible  communion  of  beUevers,  they  rvere  to  be 
further  instructed,  as  it  is  well  expressed  in  our 
Anglican  baptismal  office,  in  all  things  which  a 
Christian  ought  to  know  and  believe  for  his  souths 
health.  For  this,  the  very  form  of  Baptism, 
prescribed  with  such  exact  wisdom  by  our  Lord, 
would  be  an  admirable  preparative.  The  new 
converts,  who  were  thus  solemnly  baptized  in  or 
rather  into  the  three  names  of  the  Father  and 
the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  would  not  fail  to 
ask,  what  these  three  beings  were,  to  whom 
they  were  thus  specifically  devoted,  and  whose 
titles  were  thus  mysteriously  conjoined  in  appa- 
rent mutual  importance  and  equality.  In  reply, 
they  would  be  taught,  that  the  Father  is  the  Al- 
mighty Lord  of  heaven  and  earth  ;*  that  the 
Son  is  no  other  than  that  Jesus,  who  had  been 
preached  to  them  as  making  propitiation  for  their 
sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  cross  ;t  and  that 
tlie  Holy  Ghost  was  one,  whom  the  Father 
would  send  in  the  name  of  the  Son  to  comfort 
all  true  beUevers,  and  who  consequently  is  alike 
distinct  both  from  the  Son  and  from  the  Fa- 

*  Matt.  xi.  25.  4  Mark  i.  1. 


The  Miture  of  Baptism,  303 

ther.*  Such  a  reply  would  naturally  produce 
the  question,  why  the  man  Jesus  Christ  was 
placed  upon  the  same  footing  of  dignity  with  the 
Supreme  Being,  and  who  that  Holy  Spirit  was 
who  is  thus  joined  with  them  both  in  honour 
though  exhibited  as  distinct  from  either  ?  This 
would  lead  to  a  complete  developement  of  all 
the  leading  and  essential  doctrines  of  the  Gos- 
pel :  and,  if  the  catechumen  afterwards  fell  short 
of  his  duty  or  if  he  apostatised  from  the  faith 
deUvered  to  the  saints,  he  at  least  would  not  be 
able  to  plead  ignorance  either  of  the  tenets  or 
precepts  of  Christianity.t 

*  John  xiv.  26. 
f  And,  when  any  were  brought  to  acknowledge  this,  then 
they  were  to  baptize  them,  to  initiate  them  to  this  religion, 
by  obliging  them  to  renounce  all  idolatry  and  ungodliness  as 
well  as  all  secular  and  carnal  lusts  ;  and  then  they  led  them 
into  the  water,  and,  with  no  other  garments  than  what  might 
cover  nature,  they  first  laid  them  down  in  the  water  as  a  man 
is  laid  in  a  grave,  and  then  they  said  those  words,  I  baptize 
or  wash  thee  in  the  name  of  the  Fathei",  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 
Then  they  raised  them  up  again  ;  and  clean  garments  were 
put  upon  them :  from  whence  came  the  phrases  of  being  bap- 
tized into  Christ's  death,  of  being  buried  with  him  by  Bap- 
tism into  death,  of  our  being  risen  with  Christ,  of  putting  off 
the  old  man  and  putting  on  the  new.  After  Baptism  was 
thus  performed,  the  baptized  person  was  to  be  further  in- 
structed in  all  the  specialties  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  in 
all  the  rules  of  life  that  Christ  had  prescribed.  Bp.  Burnet 
on  the  xxxix  Art.  Art.  XXVII. 


304  The  Nature  of  Baptism. 

3.  It  was  however  both  to  be  feared  and  ex- 
pected, that  many  would  hear  the  sound  of  the 
Gospel  without  receiving  it  as  the  word  of  God. 
Though  it  freely  offered  them  salvation  through 
the  merits  of  the  long  predicted  and  now  re- 
vealed Saviour,  numbers  would  reject  the  prof- 
fered invitation,  their  hearing  not  being  mixed 
with  faith.  The  report  of  Christ's  ambassadors 
would  not  be  believed  by  them  :  they  would  ap- 
pear to  them  in  the  light  of  mere  babblers :  and 
the  things  of  God's  Spirit  would  seem  in  their 
eyes  no  better  than  so  much  absolute  foolish- 
ness. Where  a  few  humble-minded  persons 
heard  the  word  with  joy,  many  would  remain 
determined  infidels. 

Now  it  is  obvious,  that,  whatever  benefits 
might  result  from  believing  in  Christ  as  a  re- 
deeming Saviour  and  from  thankfully  submitting 
to  him  in  all  his  varied  offices  as  declared  l)y  his 

Him  that  believeth  in  Christ,  professeth  the  articles  of  the 
Christian  religion,  and  mindeth  to  be  baptized  (I  speak  now 
of  them  that  be  grown  to  ripe  years  of  discretion,  sith  for  the 
yomig  babes  their  parents'  or  the  Church's  profession  suffi- 
ceth,)  the  minister  dippeth  in  or  washeth  with  pure  and  clean 
water  only,  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost :  and  then  commendeth  him  by  prayer  to 
God,  into  whose  Church  he  is  now  openly  (as  it  were)  en- 
rolled, that  it  may  please  God  to  grant  him  his  grace,  where- 
by he  may  answer  in  belief  and  life  agreeably  to  his  profes- 
sion.    King  Edward's  Catech.  p.  51. 


The  Mature  of  Baptism.  305 

holy  evangelists  ;  precisely  those  benefits  would 
be  lost  or  forfeited  by  the  not  thus  believing  in 
him  and  by  the  not  thus  submitting  to  him. 
For,  as  well  might  we  expect,  that  a  sick  man 
would  derive  health  from  the  mere  existence  of 
a  medicine,  which  he  refused  to  swallow  througli 
a  resolute  disbelief  in  the  skill  and  competency 
of  his  physician ;  as  imagine,  that  Christ  could 
be  a  Saviour  or  spiritual  physician  to  those  who 
determined  not  to  receive  him  in  that  capacity. 
In  either  case,  such  a  notion  would  alike  involve 
a  direct  contradiction  in  terms. 

The  sick  man  is  cured,  by  giving  himself  up 
implicitly  to  the  orders  of  his  medical  friend, 
by  carefully  obeying  all  his  directions,  and  by 
duly  receiving  the  salutiferous  drugs  which  in 
his  peculiar  case  the  wisdom  of  his  attendant 
judges  to  be  necessary.  But  why  does  the  sick 
man  thus  submit  to  the  commands  of  his  physi- 
cian ?  Why  does  he  yield  to  him  so  entirely,  as 
not  to  presume  to  set  up  his  own  judgment  in 
opposition  for  a  single  moment  ?  Doubtless  be- 
cause he  BELIEVES,  that  the  physician  is  a  man  of 
great  professional  skill  ;  that  he  understands 
what  is  really  good  for  him,  much  better  than 
he  himself  does  ;  that  he  will  prescribe  for  him 
nothing  but  what  is  proper,  though  the  medicine 
or  the  operation  which  he  recommends  be  far 

from  palatable  ;  that,  if  he  be  obedient,  he  may 
Faber,    40 


306  The  Katiire  of  Baptism, 

recover;  but  that,  if  he  be  disobedient,  death  or 
acute  suffering  will  be  the  infallible  result  of  his 
folly.  Here  the  whole  principle  of  his  actions 
is  BELIEF  :  and  that  too,  not  a  mere  vague  gen- 
eral indefinite  beMefthat  his  physician  is  a  man 
of  science  and  talent,  while  yet  he  is  determined 
not  to  follow  a  single  plan  v/hich  he  recom- 
mends ;  but  a  belief,  which  leads  immediately 
to  practice,  which  induces  him  freely  and  vo- 
luntarily forthwith  to  request  the  aid  of  the  per- 
son whose  skill  he  acknowledges,  which  prompts 
him  to  submit  patiently  and  even  cheerfully  to 
all  his  orders,  and  which  inspires  him  with  a 
lively  hope  that  by  so  doing  he  shall  at  last  be 
amply  recompensed.  But,  if  he  have  no  be- 
lief, the  entire  tissue  of  his  conduct  will  be  per- 
fectly analogous  to  his  opinion.  His  neighbour- 
hood may  provide  him  with  the  most  skilful 
physician  in  the  world  ;  and  the  physician  him- 
self may  be  most  strongly  recommended  to  him 
by  those,  who  have  actually  derived  benefit 
from  his  medical  knowledge :  but  all  this  will  be 
of  no  avail,  if  the  man  have  obstinately  taken  up 
a  persuasion,  that  the  person,  of  whom  he  hears 
so  much,  is  an  ignorant  empiric  and  a  mere  pre- 
tender to  science.  Under  such  an  impression 
of  UNBELIEF,  a  pHuciple  quite  as  operative  in 
its  way  as  belief  can  be,  he  will  neither  call  in 
the  practifioner,  nor  swallow  his  medicines,  nor 


The  Mitiire  of  Baptism,  307 

pay  the  least  regard  to  his  directions :  and  thus, 
in  the  natural  way  of  cause  and  effect,  unless 
God  should  be  pleased  to  work  a  gratuitous 
miracle  in  his  favour,  he  will  lose  his  life  under 
the  very  eye  of  consummate  talent,  because  he 
could  not  bring  himself  to  believe  that  any  such 
talent  existed. 

From  the  noble  science  of  healing,  agreeably 
to  the  ordinary  practice  of  the  inspired  writers 
who  delight  to  exemplify  things  spiritual  by 
things   natural,  our  Lord  has  been  pleased  to 
draw  an  illustration  of  the  peculiarity  of  his  own 
mission.     He  speaks  of  himself  as  the  great 
physician  of  souls  :  and,  in  that  capacity,  he  is 
recommended  by  his  evangelists  to  all  who  la- 
bour under  the  spiritual  malady  of  sin  ;  that  is 
to  say,  to  all  mankind.     He  declares  however, 
that,  without  belief  on  the  part  of  the  suffer- 
ers, even  he  himself  can  effect  no  cure :  and  the 
reason  in   this  case  is  precisely  the  same  as  it 
was  in  the  other  case,  whence  he  draws  his  il- 
lustration.    They,  who  reject  the  great  spiritual 
physician  as  an   impostor,  that  is  to  say,  who 
have   NO  belief  in   his  skill  ;  and  they,  who 
vaguely  acknowledge  his  skill  indeed,  but  are 
determined  not  to  avail  themselves  of  his  medi- 
cines :  both  these  can  plainly  derive  no  benefit 
from  him,  however  undeniable  and  uncontrouled 
may  be  his  sway  over  each  spiritual  malady. 


308  Tfie  Kature  of  Baptism, 

The  ground  of  such  a  lamentable  circumstance 
is  manifest.  Their  souls,  not  being  healed, 
have  as  necessary  a  tendency  to  spiritual  death ; 
as  a  body,  not  healed  of  some  mortal  distemper, 
has  to  natural  death.  Disbelieving,  and  there- 
fore rejecting,  the  physician,  they  of  course  re- 
ject his  prescribed  method  of  cure,  and  pay  not 
the  slightest  attention  to  his  directions.  Hence, 
as  his  office  is  specially  set  forth  to  be  that  of  a 
Saviour ;  it.  inevitably  follows  from  the  very 
term  itself,  that  they,  who  submit  not  them- 
selves to  him,  cannot  be  saved  by  him :  or,  in 
other  words,  that  they,  who  disbelieve,  must 
perish  in  their  sins. 

Nor  can  the  reverse  be  possible,  unless  the 
whole  analogy  of  nature  be  violated.  We  some- 
times hear  ignorant  and  unthinking  men  com- 
plain, that  it  is  hard  for  a  person  to  suffer,  mere- 
ly because  he  cannot  believe.  This  complaint 
springs  altogether  from  their  grossly  misappre- 
hending the  nature  of  Faith.  They  seem  al- 
most to  fancy,  that  it  is  a  kind  of  cabalistical 
word,  a  sort  of  Open  Sesame,  which  well-mean- 
ing though  prejudiced  Christians  suppose  will 
infallibly  unlock  the  gates  of  heaven  to  all  who 
have  the  good  fortune  to  possess  such  a  key. 
But  nothing  can  be  further  removed  from  the 
truth  than  this  groundless  notion.  No  man  will 
perish  hereafter  for  a  mere  simple  act  of  unbe- 


The  Nature  of  Baptism,  309 

LIEF,  neither  will  any  man  be  saved  hereafter 
for  a  mere  simple  act  of  belief.  It  is  the  dif- 
ferent trains  of  consequences^  which  necessarily 
result  from  these  two  highly  operative  princi- 
ples, and  that  too  merely  and  absolutely  in  the 
way  of  cause  and  effect,  which  produce  two  such 
opposite  final  results.  Belief,  as  a  casual  prin- 
ciple, produces,  just  like  any  other  casual  princi- 
ple, its  own  proper  effects  :  and  unbelief,  as  a 
casual  principle,  produces,  in  like  manner,  its 
own  proper  effects.  Now  we  might  just  as 
profitably  seek  to  unhinge  the  whole  frame  of 
nature,  as  to  maintain,  that  the  proper  effects  of 
UNBELIEF  will  producc  no  different  final  resu 
from  that  which  will  be  produced  by  the  proper 
effects  of  BELIEF.  The  analogy  of  all  nature 
through  all  its  works  invariably  teaches,  that  op- 
posite causes  must  produce  opposite  effects; 
and  common  sense  shews,  that  those  opposite  ef- 
fects can  never  issue  in  a  similar  result.  Hence 
we  may  with  like  emolument  complain,  how 
hard  it  is  that  a  man  should  be  excluded  from 
heaven  merely  because  he  could  not  believe 
that  Christ  is  the  only  physician  of  souls,  and 
how  hard  it  is  that  a  man  should  scorch  his 
hand  by  thrusting  it  into  the  fire  merely  be- 
cause he  could  not  believe  that  that  element 
would  burn.  In  each  case,  it  is  not  the  hare  un- 
belief that  produces  the  mischief,  but  the  line  of 


310  The  Nature  of  Baptism. 

action  springing  from  the  principle :  and  men 
may  complain  as  long  as  they  please  of  the  ex- 
treme hardship  of  forfeiting  heaven  through  un- 
belief;  but,  until  they  can  contrive  to  order 
matters  so  that  cause  shall  cease  to  produce  its 
effect,  until  they  can  manage  so  to  arrange  things 
that  similar  effects  shall  flow^  from  opposite 
causes,  they  must  be  content  to  find,  that  the 
same  ultimate  result  can  never  spring  from  two 
diametrically  opposite  principles  of  belief  and 

UNBELIEF. 

On  this  ground.  If  I  mistake  not,  our  Saviour, 
as  his  words  stand  recorded  by  St.  Mark,  when 
commissioning  his  apostles  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel through  all  the  world,  and  when  charging 
them  at  the  same  time  to  initiate  every  convert 
by  the  rite  of  Baptism,  solemnly  adds  :  He,  that 
believeth,  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved  ;  but  he, 
that  believeth  not,  shall  be  damned.  The  two  op- 
posite principles,  inevitably  and  in  the  way  of 
cause  and  effect,  produce  two  such  opposite 
lines  of  conduct,  that  the  practical  believer  is  by 
the  same  philosophical  necessity  brought  to  final 
happiness,  as  tlie  practical  unbeliever  is  to  final 
misery.  Nor  can  this  ever  cease  to  be  the  case ; 
until,  through  the  universal  constitution  of  na- 
ture, BELIEF  and  UNBELIEF  shall  no  more  have 
any  operative  influence  upon  human  actions  and 
affections. 


The  Kature  of  Baptism.  311 

Thus  does  our  Lord  assign  its  due  promi- 
nence to  FAITH,  making  it  the  turning  hinge  of 
future  happiness  or  misery  :  but,  while  he  places 
it  thus  high  as  the  cardinal  Christian  grace,  the 
fruitful  mother  and  living  fountain  whence  every 
other  grace  originates,  he  assigns  likewise  its 
own  due  rank  to  the  ordinance  of  baptism. 
This  he  does  by  making  a  marked  difference  in 
the  form  of  the  two  propositions,  which  he  lays 
down  to  his  disciples.  He^  that  believeth  and 
IS  baptized,  shall  be  saved :  in  this  proposition 
FAITH  and  baptism  are  both  specified.  But  he^ 
^/ifl^  believeth  not,  shall  he  damned:  in  this 
proposition  unbelief  alone  is  specified ;  nothing 
is  said  respecting  the  omission  of  baptism.  It 
appears  then,  that,  while  every  one  who  believ- 
eth and  IS  BAPTIZED  shall  be  saved,  unbelief, 
viewed  as  producing  a  long  train  of  baneful  ef- 
fects, is  that  ALONE  which  will  exclude  us  from 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Our  Lord  does  not 
say,  He^  that  believeth  not  and  is  not  bap- 
tized, shall  be  damned  :  but  only,  He^  that  be- 
lieveth not,  shall  be  damned ;  thus  studiously 
varying  the  form  of  the  two  propositions,  which 
respect  our  final  happiness  or  misery.  Now, 
as  we  may  be  sure  that  Christ  neither  says  nor 
omits  any  thing  without  ample  reason,  we  may 
be  sure  that  the  defect  of  baptism  is  not  ac- 
cidentally omitted  in  the    second  proposition: 


313  The  Nature  of  Baptism. 

we  may  be  sure,  that  it  is  omitted  for  very 
sufficient  cause:  and  the  cause  I  take  to  be 
this.  Our  Lord  wished  to  point  out  a  radical 
difference  between  faith  and  baptism,  in  re- 
gard to  their  importance :  accordingly,  he  de- 
fines FAITH  to  be  so  vitally  essential  to  salva- 
tion, that  a  man  cannot  possibly  be  saved  xvith- 
out  it ;  but,  though  he  commands  that  every 
believer  should  be  baptized,  he  lays  not  the 
same  stress  upon  baptism,  he  carefully  re- 
frains from  intimating  that  without  it  no  man 
can  be  saved.  Every  one  that  believeth  and 
is  baptized,  shall  be  saved:  but  only  every 
one  that  believeth  not,  shall  be  damned.  Pro- 
vided a  man  have  real  faith,  which  he  assu- 
redly may  have  before  Baptism;  the  omission 
OF  the  baptismal  rite,  provided  that  omis- 
sion be  not  the  result  of  a  contemptuous  ne- 
glect of  Christ's  commandment  (a  sin,  which 
no  real  believer  woWd  be  guilty  of),  shall  be 
no  bar  to  his  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  His  faith  shall  save  him,  even  though 
he  may  not  have  been  outwardly  baptized. 

We  may  infer  then  from  our  Lord's  studiously 
varied  phraseology,  that  faith  is  essential  to 
salvation,  but  that  baptism  is  7iof  essential  to  it. 
And  this  inference  will  both  teach  us,  how  to  as- 
sign to  Baptism  its  proper  place  in  the  Christian 
scale ;  and  will  clearly  shew,  that  there  is  no 


The  Katiire  of  Baptism,  313 

such  inseparable  conjunction  of  outward  Bap- 
tism and  inward  Regeneration  that  the  one  can- 
not subsist  distinct  from  the  other.  If  the  two 
were  indissolubly  united,  baptism  would  be  just 
as  essential  to  salvation  as  faith.  For,  since  it 
is  impossible  in  the  very  nature  of  things  for  a 
man  to  enter  into  heaven  without  Regeneration  ; 
if  Regeneration  were  inseparable  from  Baptism, 
it  is  plain  that  no  one  could  enter  into  heaven 
without  Baptism  :  in  other  words,  he  that  is 
NOT  BAPTIZED,  quitc  as  much  as  he  that  be- 
LiEVETH  NOT,  iBust  bc  damned.  But  our  Lord 
makes  no  such  assertion :  so  far  from  it,  even 
while  in  the  very  act  of  enjoining  the  baptismal 
rite,  even  while  associating  its  due  reception 
with  Faith  itself,  he  industriously  refrains  from 
annexing  the  penalty  of  damnation  to  the  omis- 
sion of  Baptism  ;  thus  tacitly  insinuating,  that 
Regeneration,  which  he  himself  peremptorily 
declares  to  be  essential  to  salvation,  may  exist 
without  the  external  symbolic  ordinance. 

Hence  we  may  learn,  how  we  are  to  under- 
stand the  language  which  he  employs  in  his  con- 
versation with  Nicodemus.  He  says  indeed  on 
that  occasion.  Except  a  man  be  horn  of  water  and 
of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God :  but,  that  the  emphasis  is  to  be  laid  on  the 
Spirit  and  not  on  water,  it  is  evident,  both  from 

Faber.  41 


314  The  Mature  of  Baptism. 

the  marked  difference  which  he  makes  between 
FAITH  and  BAPTISM  as  to  the  final  consequen- 
ces resulting  from  their  presence  or  their  ab- 
sence, and  from  what  he  immediately  and  guard- 
edly subjoins  to  the  assertion  itself;  That^  which 
is  born  of  the  flesh,  is  flesh  ;  and  that,  which  is 
born  of  the  Spirit,  is  spirit.*  Here  we  see,  that 
the  mention  of  water  is  entirely  dropped,  and 
the  agency  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  alone  insisted 
upon.  Consequently,  from  comparing  together 
the  language  of  our  Lord  while  conversing  with 
Nicodemus  and  his  language  while  delivering 
his  last  charge  to  his  disciples,  we  may  safely 
conclude,  that  he  never  meant  to  pronounce 
Baptism  by  water  so  essential  to  salvation  that 
every  unbaptized  person  will  infallibly  be  damn- 
ed ;  a  tenet  however,  which,  extravagant  and 
shocking  as  it  is,  necessarily  flows  from  the  doc- 
trine that  Baptism  and  Regeneration  are  insepa- 
rable. 

4.  When  Christ  thus  sent  forth  his  apostles  to 
evangelize  and  baptize  the  whole  world,  it  was 
highly  necessary  that  he  should  give  them  a 
word  of  comfort  and  encouragement ;  for,  con- 
sidering the  temper  and  practices  both  of  the 
Jews  and  of  the  Gentiles,  no  task  could  be  more 
thoroughly  hopeless  and  disheartening.    He  as- 

*  John  iii.  5,  6. 


The  Kature  of  Baptism,  315 

sures  them,  therefore,  that  he  would  be  with 
them  always^  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world. 

The  declaration  is  highly  remarkable,  and 
well  worth  om'  serious  attention. 

Had  Christ  been  a  mere  man,  as  some  would 
fain  persuade  us,  it  is  not  very  easy  to  conceive, 
either  how  he  could  make  good  such  a  promise, 
or  what  great  comfort  the  apostles  could  derive 
even  from  its  accomplishment.  Granting  for  a 
moment  the  possibility  of  a  departed  human 
spirit  being  every  where  invisibly  present ;  un- 
less that  spirit  possessed  some  extraordinary 
powers  of  acting  upon  the  mind  of  man  and  of 
controuling  and  overruling  the  course  of  events, 
it  is  difficult  to  comprehend  what  particular  be- 
nefit his  invisible  presence  could  confer :  and,  if 
he  possessed  such  powers,  it  is  equally  difficult 
to  comprehend  how  a  mere  creature  could  be 
capable  of  participating  the  special  attributes  of 
Deity ;  for,  though  Christ  indeed  says  of  him- 
self /  am  he  zvhich  searcheth  the  reins  and  hearts, 
this  does  not  make  it  at  all  more  easy  to  con- 
ceive with  what  propriety  a  glorified  human 
spirit  could  adopt  the  very  language  of  Jehovah, 
The  heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things  and  despe- 
rately wicked :  who  can  know  it  ?  I  Jehovah 
search  the  heart,  I  try  the  reins.  ^ 

*  Rev.  ii.  23.  Jerem,  xvii.  9,  10, 


316  The  Mitiire  of  Baptism. 

But,  even  supposing  that  a  glorified  human 
spirit  might  have  the  power  communicated  to 
him  of  acting  upon  the  mind  of  man  and  of  con- 
trouling  the  course  of  events,  still  we  have  to 
inquire  into  the  possibility  of  his  being  charac- 
terized by  a  yet  more  incomprehensible  attri- 
bute ;  no  less  an  attribute  than  that  of  omnipre- 
sence. With  whatever  velocity  a  spirit  may  be 
supposed  to  flit  from  place  to  place,  as  every 
creature  is  necessarily  a  finite  being,  the  most 
rapid  created  spirit  could  never  be  present  in 
more  than  a  single  place  at  a  single  moment  of 
time :  nor  is  it  possible  (with  reverence  be  it 
spoken)  for  an  infinite  being  to  communicate  to 
a  finite  being  any  attribute,  which  specially  be- 
longs to  him  as  an  infinite  being  ;  because  such  a 
communication  involves  a  direct  contradiction, 
for  it  is  tantamount  to  saying  that  a  being  can 
at  once  be  both  finite  and  infinite.  Now  omni- 
presence, like  omnipotence  and  omniscience, 
necessarily  involves  the  idea  of  infinity.  Hence 
it  is  incapable  of  communication  to  a  finite  being. 
But  Christ,  in  his  last  declaration  to  his  apostles, 
as  well  as  in  his  former  promise  that  where  two 
or  three  are  gathered  togetner  in  his  name  there 
would  he  he  in  the  midst  of  //z^??^,* manifestly 
claims  the  attribute  of  omnipresence.     For  how 

*  Matt,  xviij.  20, 


The  Nature  of  Baptism,  317 

could  he  be  present  at  the  same  time  with  all 
his  numerous  evangelists  in  every  quarter  of  the 
globe,  how  could  he  at  once  be  in  the  midst  of 
each  small  assembly  of  devout  Christians,  and 
how  could  he  be  nevertheless  scynchronically  in 
heaven  itself  imtil  the  times  of  restitution  of  all 
things  ;*  how  could  a  mere  man,  or  rather  how 
could  any  created  being,  be  thus  present  in  in- 
numerable places  at  once,  unless  he  had  posses- 
sed the  attribute  of  ubiquity  ?  But  such  an  at- 
tribute is  necessarily  incommunicable  :  and  yet 
we  see,  that  Christ  claims  it  to  himself.  Hence 
I  perceive  not  what  inference  can  be  drawn,  but 
that  Christ  is  perfect  God  as  well  as  perfect 
man. 

Now,  in  this  view  of  the  subject,  it  is  easy  to 
see  what  boundless  consolation  the  apostles 
would  derive  from  their  Lord's  promise,  that  he 
would  be  with  them  always  even  to  the  end  of 
the  world.  They  would  feel  assured,  that  they 
had  no  real  cause  of  fear;  since  that  divine  per- 
son, into  whose  name  with  complete  equality  to 
the  names  of  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost 
every  new  convert  was  to  be  baptized,  would 
never  cease  to  be  invisibly  present  with  all  and 
each  of  them,  whether  they  were  engaged  in 
teaching  the  frozen  inhabitants  of  the  north,  or 

*  Acts  iii.  21. 


818  The  Nature  of  Baptism, 

employed  in  bearing  the  glad  tidings  of  the 
Gospel  to  the  parched  tenants  of  the  sultry 
south.  They  would  feel  assured,  that  he,  at 
whose  disposal  are  all  hearts  and  to  whose  irre- 
sistible controul  is  subjected  every  contingent 
event,  could  so  overrule  both  the  purposes  of 
men  and  the  intricate  maze  of  circumstances,  as 
to  make  them  all  co-operate  to  his  own  glory 
and  the  final  salvation  of  his  faithful  people. 

II.  These  remarks  on  the  order  of  conduct 
which  Christ  prescribed  to  his  evangelists,  and 
on  the  place  which  he  assigns  to  Baptism  when 
beheld  by  the  side  of  Faith,  will  prepare  us  to 
inquire  into  the  object  of  this  symbolical  rite  and 
into  the  nature  of  those  privileges  by  which  it 
is  accompanied. 

1.  From  the  numerous  purifications  by  water 
enjoined  under  the  Law  of  Moses,  it  was  natural 
for  the  ancient  Israelites  to  adopt  the  rite  of 
of  Baptism  as  a  fit  mode  of  initiating  their  pro- 
selytes into  the  Mysteries  of  the  Levitical  Church : 
for,  as  water  cleanses  the  body  from  outward 
pollution,  and  as  they  found  it  thence  ordained 
to  be  used  as  symbolizing  an  inward  ablution  of 
spirit  from  the  stains  contracted  by  a  breach  of 
God's  commandments ;  they  would  obviously 
employ  it  to  represent  that  new  and  better  con- 
dition, into  which  a  pagan  was  brought  by  for- 


The  Jstature  of  Baptism,  319 

saking  his  idolatrous  superstition  and  by  em- 
bracing the  pure  worship  of  the  one  true  God. 

Yet  I  have  my  suspicion,  that  the  form  of 
Baptism  did  not  absolutely  originate  in  this  man- 
ner. I  am  much  inclined  to  believe,  that  it  was 
an  ancient  patriarchal  ordinance,  at  least  as  old 
as  the  time  of  Noah,  if  not  as  old  even  as  the 
time  of  Adam  ;  and  that,  under  the  dispensa- 
tion of  the  Fathers,  no  less  than  under  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  Gospel,  it  shadowed  out  a  res- 
toration to  that  integrity  of  soul  which  our  first 
parents  lost  at  the  fall.* 

To  this  opinion  I  lean,  because  I  find  the  rite 
of  Baptism  equally  prevalent  and  equally  con- 
nected with  some  ideas  of  a  mystic  renovation 
both  among  Jews  and  Gentiles  long  prior  to  its 
authoritative  institution  by  our  Lord.  The  ge- 
neral pagan  belief,  that  the  immersion  of  the 
body  in  water  could  cleanse  it  from  any  contrac- 
ted pollution  and  thus  render  the  votary  meet 
to  approach  the  objects  of  his  veneration,  is  fa- 
miliar to  every  classical  reader  if  but  it  may  not 

*  I  mean  not  to  assert  its  divine  institution  in  the  patriarchal 
Church,  but  only  its  probable  existence.  The  Bible  gives  us 
no  warrant  for  supposing  the  former. 

f  Such  is  the  language  of  Eneas,  when  he  deems  it  unlaw- 
ful for  him  to  touch  the  Penates  on  account  of  the  impurity 
which  he  had  contracted  by  blood  shed  in  battle. 


330  The  Kature  of  Baptism, 

perhaps  be  quite  so  commonly  known,  that  a 
Baptism  by  water  was  in  perhaps  every  quarter 
of  the  world  one  of  the  modes,  by  which  aspi- 
rants were  initiated  into  the  Mysteries,  and  in 
consequence  of  which  they  were  said  to  be  re- 
generated or  to  be  born  into  a  new  state  of  ex- 
istence.*    This  pagan  regeneration  indeed  was 

Tu,  genitor,  cape  sacra  manu,  patriosque  Penates, 
Me,  bello  e  tanto  digressvim  et-caede  recenti, 
Attrectare  nefas  ;  donee  me  flumine  vivo 
Abluero.  iEneid.  lib.  ii.  ver.  717 — 720. 

*  Nam  et  sacris  quibusdam  per  lavacrum  initiantur,  Isidis 
alicujus  aut  Mithrse,  ipsos  etiam  deos  suos  lavationibus  efFe- 
runt — Idque  se  in  regenerationem  et  impunitatemperjuriorum 
suorum  agere  pr^esumunt.     Tertull.  de  Baptism,  c.  v. 

Sed  quseritur,  a  quo  intellectus  interpretetur,  eorum  quae 
ad  hsereses  faciant  ?  A  diabolo  scilicet,  cujus  sunt  partes  in- 
tervertendi  veritatem,  ipsas  quoque  res  sacramentorum  divi- 
norum  in  idolorum  Mysteriis  semulatur.  Tinguit  et  ipse 
quosdam,utique  credentes  et  fideles  suos  :  expiationem  delic- 
torum  de  lavacro  repromittit,  et  sic  adhuc  initiat  Mithrse. 
Signat  illic  in  frontibus  milites  suos,  celebrat  et  panis  oblati- 
onem,  et  imaginem  resurrectionis  inducit.  Tertull.  de  prce- 
script.  adv.  Hser.  c.  40. 

A  Brahmin  is  purified  by  water  that  reaches  his  bosom  ; 
a  Chatrya,  by  water  descending  to  the  throat ;  a  Vaisya,  by 
water  barely  taken  into  his  mouth  ;  a  Sudra,  by  water  touched 
with  the  extremity  of  his  lips — Such  is  the  real  law  of  insti- 
tution for  the  twice  born — of  him  who  gives  natural  birth, 
and  him  who  gives  knowledge  of  the  whole  Veda,  the  giver 
of  sacred  knowledge  is  the  more  venerable  father  ;  since  the 
second  or  divine  birth  ensures  life  to  the  twice-bora  both  in 


The  Nature  of  Baptism .  321 

strangely  perverted  from  any  genuine  spiritual 
sense  to  certain  philosophical  speculations  and 
remarkable  traditions,  which  have  ever  formed 
the  entire  basis  of  gentile  idolatry  :  yet  the  no- 
tion of  some  attendant  purification,  of  some  en- 
trance into  a  more  eligible  condition,  was  never 
entirely  obliterated.  Now  it  is  difficult  to  con- 
ceive, how  such  an  ordinance  could  have  been 
so  universally  adopted  both  by  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles, if,  like  sacrifice,  they  had  not  derived  it 
from  some  common  source.  But  the  point, 
where  the  Israelites  and  the  Pagans  separated, 
was  the  close  of  the  patriarchal  dispensation ; 
and,  whatever  general  opinions  and  practices 
the  Pagans  had  among  them,  provided  only  they 
were  of  an  arbitrary  nature,  they  must  have  se- 

this  world  and  hereafter  eternally.  Let  a  man  consider  that 
as  a  mere  human  birth,  which  his  parents  gave  him,  and 
which  he  receives  after  lying  in  the  v/omb  :  but  that  birth, 
which  his  principal  Acharya,  who  knows  the  whole  Veda, 
procures  for  him  by  his  divine  mother  the  Gayatri,  is  a  true 
birth  ;  that  birth  is  exempt  from  age  and  from  death.  Instit. 
of  Menu.  chap.  ii.  §  62,  68,  146,  147, 148. 

With  Tertullian's  mode  of  accounting  for  the  Baptism  of 
the  Mysteries  I  am  no  way  concerned  :  I  cite  him  only  for 
the  fact.  Now  from  these  citations  it  is  evident,  that  the  an- 
cient pagans  used  a  Baptism  by  way  of  initiating  aspirants 
into  their  most  sacred  doctrines,  and  that  this  Baptism  was 
thought  to  symbolize  a  second  birth  or  a  transition  into  a  new 
state  of  existence. 

Faher,  42 


3SS  The  Kature  of  Baptism, 

veially  carried  off  into  the  lands  which  they 
planted  at  the  time  of  the  dispersion  from  Ba- 
bel.* Hence,  as  the  rite  of  Baptism  was  alike 
familiar  both  to  Jews  and  to  Gentiles,  the  obvious 
inference  is,  that  they  equally  received  it  from 
patriarchal  antiquity. 

Both  among  Jews  and  Gentiles,  however,  it 
was  used  as  an  ordinance  of  admission  or  initi- 
ation. Whence  we  may  presume,  that  such  also 
was  its  use  in  the  patriarchal  Church,  and  that  it 
is  still  to  be  viewed  in  the  same  light  as  adopted 
into  the  Church  of  Christ. 

But  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles  additionally  es- 
teemed it,  as  being  emblematical  of  purification, 
and  as  shadowing  out  a  sort  of  birth  from  a  worse 
state  of  existence  into  a  better.f  Nor  w^as  this, 
at  least  among  the  Gentiles,  confined  to  the  hu- 
man species :  they  extended  it  likewise  to  uni- 
versal nature,  and  eminently  applied  it  to  the 
history  of  the  deluge.  The  whole  earth,  pollut- 
ed by  the  sins  of  its  inhabitants,  was  thought  to 
have  been  baptismally  purified  by  water,  and  af- 
terwards to  have  been  born  again  from  the  migh- 
ty inundation  renewed  in  youth  and  holiness. 

*  For  this  argument  unfolded  to  a  great  length,  see  my 
Work  on  the  origin  of  Pagan  Idolatry.  It  constitutes  in  fact 
the  basis  of  that  entire  Dissertation. 


t  Hence  the  formula  of  the  Mystee,  js,^.,^^, 


XtlX9f>  tlf^t  KfUh'H^ 


The  Miture  of  Baptism,  333 

To  this  opinion,  which  I  conjecture  to  have  des- 
cended from  the  times  of  early  postdiluvian  Pa- 
triarchism,  St.  Peter  seems  to  allude  in  a  well 
known  curiously  mystical  passage.  The  long- 
suffering  of  God  waited  in  the  days  ofKoah^  while 
the  ark  rvas  a  preparing,  wherein  few,  that  is 
eight  souls,  were  saved  by  water.  The  like  figure 
whereunto,  even  Baptism,  •  doth  also  noxv  save  us 
(not  the  putting  away  the  filth  of  the  fiesh,  hid  the 
answer  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God)  by  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,^  At  any  rate,  in 
whatever  precise  manner  the  apostle's  allusion 
to  the  deluge  ought  to  be  understood,  he  clearly 
ascribes  to  Baptism  a  purifying  effect.  Not  in- 
deed that  the  mere  water  possesses  any  cleans- 
ing potency ;  that  were  a  vain  superstition, 
against  which  St.  Peter  carefully  and  expressly 
warns  us.  But  he  certainly  intimates,  that,  al- 
though the  washing  away  of  the  outward  filth 
of  the  flesh  be  in  itself  unable  to  save  us,  yet 
this  baptismal  ablution  shadows  out  the  purifi- 
cation of  the  soul  so  that  the  answer  of  a  good 
conscience  towards  God  may  by  such  inward  pu- 
rification be  effectually  obtained.  Hence  also 
we  may  infer,  that  in  the  patriarchal  Church  the 
idea  of  purification  was  associated  with  baptis^ 
mal  w^tshing. 

*  1  Peter  iii.  20,  21. 


B^^  The  Katiire  of  Baptism, 

2.  While  Christ  however  has  thus  been  pleased 
to  adopt  into  his  Church,  and  so  to  make  his  own, 
the  ancient  rite  of  Baptism ;  the  erection  of  it 
into  one  of  his  sacraments  specially  vindicates  it 
into  the  place,  not  of  the  Jewish  proselytical  bap- 
tisms, but  of  the  divinely-ordained  rite  of  Cir- 
cumcision. For,  as  the  Christian  Church  is  but 
the  completion  and  perfection  of  the  Levitical ; 
the  same  ordinances,  which  had  been  established 
in  the  one,  were  transferred  in  spirit,  if  not  ab- 
solutely in  letter,  to  the  other.  Hence  the  Do- 
minical Supper  having  succeeded  to  the  place  of 
the  Passover,  analogy  requires  us  to  conclude 
that  Baptism  has  succeeded  to  the  place  of  Cir- 
cumcision. Accordingly  St.  Paul,  while  he  de- 
nies the  existence  of  any  necessary  connexion 
between  outward  Circumcision  and  that  inward 
Renovation  which  he  describes  it  as  symboliz- 
ing, speaks  of  it  in  terms,  which  compel  us  to 
identify  it  in  the  Spirit  with  Baptism.  For,  after 
the  example  of  the  old  prophets,  he  represents 
it  as  being  the  ordinance,  which  shadowed  out, 
by  an  external  and  visible  sign,  that  internal  and 
invisible  change  of  heart  without  which  it  is 
impossible  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven.* He  is  not  a  Jew^  which  is  one  oiitwardly ; 
neither  is  that  Circmncisio?i,  which  is  outward  in 

^  S^e  Deut.  x.  16.  xxx.  6.     Exod.  vi.  12.     Levit.  xxvi.  41. 
Isaiah  lii.  1.     Jerem.  vi.  10.  ix.  26.     Exek.  xliv.  7. 


The  Nature  of  Baptism,  325 

the  flesh :  but  he  is  a  Jew,  which  is  one  inwardly  ; 
and  Circumcisioji  is  that  of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit 
and  not  in  the  letter,  whose  praise  is  not  of  men 
but  of  God.*  Now  this  identical  inward  change 
of  heart  is  also  symbolized  by  Baptism.  Hence, 
as  Circumcision  and  Baptism  symbolize  the  self- 
same thing,  they  must  plainly  be  one  and  the 
same  sacrament ;  whatever  difference  may  sub- 
sist between  their  mere  external  forms.  And 
such,  accordingly,  we  find  to  be  the  opinion  uni- 
versally entertained  by  our  best  divines. f 

Circumcision  then  being  in  effect  and  sub- 
stance the  same  as  Baptism,  would  we  ascer- 
tain the  nature  and  privileges  of  the  latter,  we 

*  Rom.  ii.  28,  29. 

f  Now  since  Christ  took  Baptism  from  the  Jews  and  ap- 
pointed it  to  be  the  federal  admission  to  his  religion,  as  Cir- 
cumcision had  been  in  the  Mosaical  dispensation,  it  is  reason- 
able to  believe,  that,  except  where  he  declared  a  change  to  be 
made  in  it,  in  all  other  respects  it  was  to  go  on  and  to  con- 
tinue as  before.     Bp.  Burnet  on  the  xxxix  Art.    Art.  xxvii. 

Look  unto  that  legal  sacrament  of  Circumcision ;  which, 
contrary  to  the  fancies  of  our  Anabaptists,  directly  answer 
this  evangelical  one  of  Baptism.  Bp.  Hall's  Works.  De- 
cade V.  Epist.  4. 

What  sacraments  be  there  of  the  New  Testament  ?  Only 
two  :  to  wit.  Baptism,  succeeding  to  the  place  of  Circumci- 
sion ;  and  the  Supper  of  the  Lord,  answering  to  the  Passover. 
By  the  former  we  have  our  admission  into  the  true  Church  of 
God :  by  the  latter  we  are  nourished  and  preserved  in  the 
Church  after  our  admission.  Abp.  Lasher's  Body  of  Div. 
p.  388.     See  also  p.  394. 


3S6  The  Kature  of  Baptism. 

must  inquire  into  the  nature  and  privileges  of 
the  former. 

Now  Circumcision,  though  (as  St.  Paul  as- 
sures us)  not  inseparably  connected  with  Re- 
generation ;  for  a  man  might  be  a  complete 
Jew  outwardly,  and  yet  be  no  better  than  a  mere 
Heathen  inwardly  :  Circumcision  evidently  sha- 
dowed out  Regeneration;  for  such  is  the  ne- 
cessary inference,  both  from  the  language  of 
the  Apostle,  and  from  that  of  the  ancient  pro- 
phets before  him.  Consequently,  as  Regenera- 
tion is  an  admission  or  initiation  into  the  invisi- 
ble spiritual  Church  of  God,  so  its  symbol  Cir- 
cumcision must  analogically  be  viewed  as  an 
admission  or  initiation  into  the  visible  carnal 
Church.  In  exact  accordance  with  this  obvious 
conclusion,  we  are  told,  that  Circumcision  was 
a  token  of  the  covenant  betwixt  God  and  his 
chosen  people ;  and  that  every  man  child,  in 
order  to  his  being  admitted  into  that  covenant, 
was  to  be  circumcised  on  the  eighth  day.*  We 
are  further  told,  that,  if  a  sojourner  wished  to 
become  a  proselyte  and  thus  to  eat  of  the  Pass- 
over, it  was  necessary,  that  he  should  first  be  ini- 
tiated into  the  religion  of  God's  people  by  the 
rite  of  Circumcision. t  It  is  manifest  therefore, 
that  Circumcision  was  an  admission  into  the 

*  Gen.  xvii.  7—14.  f  Exod.  xii.  48,  49, 


The  Nature  of  Baptism,  327 

outward  Levitical  Church,  symbolizing  indeed 
an  admission  by  what  the  prophets  style  Circum- 
cision of  heart  into  the  spiritual  and  invisible 
Church,  but  not  inseparably  or  necessarily  asso- 
ciated with  such  admission. 

Circumcision  then  being  an  initiation  into  the 
outward  Levitical  Church,  the  person  thus  ini- 
tiated was  admitted  into  all  the  high  privileges 
of  God's   people.     He  had  the  means  of  grace 
abundantly  supplied  to  him :  he  was  introduced 
to  the  knowledge  and  worship  of  the  one  true 
God  :  he  had  the  opportunity  of  learning  and 
performing  his  will  :  he  enjoyed  religious  ad- 
vantages denied  to  the  Gentiles,  which,  if  duly 
and  faithfully  improved,  would  be  the  powerful 
instrument  of  making  him  an  Israelite  indeed, 
and  of  thus  procuring  him  admission  into  the 
general  Church  and  Assembly  of  the  first-born. 
Yet,  as  Circumcision   in  itself  could  do   no 
more    than   initiate  a    man  into   the  outward 
Church ;  though  the  wilful  and  contemptuous 
neglect  of  it  justly  subjected  the  offender  to  the 
severest  punishment,  it   was  not  so  absolutely 
necessary  to  bring  a  Hebrew  into  covenant  with 
God  that  without  it  he  could  not  be  in  covenant. 
Here,  as  must  inevitably  be  the  case,  the  parallel 
failed  between  the  sign  and  the  thing  signified. 
Without  the  latter,  it  is  morally  impossible  that 
any  one  should  be  included  in  the  pale  of  the 


3S8  The  Xdtiire  of  Baptism* 

invisible  Church:  but  there  is  no  such  moral 
impossibility  as  to  a  man's  being  included  in  the 
pale  of  the  visible  Levitical  Church  without  the 
former.  Accordingly  we  find,  that  none  of  the 
Israelites,  who  were  born  in  the  wilderness  for 
the  space  of  forty  years  together,  were  circum- 
cised :  yet  were  they  not  on  that  account  less 
within  the  pale  of  the  Levitical  Church.  An  or- 
der indeed  came  forth,  as  soon  as  they  had  en- 
tered the  promised  land,  that  they  sliould  all 
forthwith  submit  to  the  initiative  rite :  but  are 
we  on  this  account  to  imagine,  that  they  had 
hitherto  been  aliens  from  God's  covenant,  that 
in  his  estimation  they  had  been  as  uncircumcised 
heathens,  and  that  they  had  never  during  that 
period  been  viewed  as  hi^  people  ?  Plainly  not: 
their  whole  history  proves  the  reverse  to  be  the 
truth  ;  their  whole  history  demonstrates  them 
to  have  been  in  covenant  with  God,  notwith- 
standing they  had  never  been  circumcised ;  their 
wliole  history  therefore  warrants  the  belief,  that 
those  of  them,  who  died  uncircumcised  in  the 
wilderness,  would  not  on  that  account  merely 
be  excluded  from  the  beatific  presence  of  the 
Lord,  provided  only  they  had  experienced  an 
inward  Circumcision  of  heart.* 

Circumcision  therefore  under  the   Law  we 
find  to  be  no  more  indispensably  necessary  to 

*  Joshua  V.  2 — 7. 


The  Mitiire  of  Baptism,  829 

salvation,  than  Baptism  under  the  Gospel:  and 
the  reason  in  each  case  is  the  very  same.  Both 
are  alike  symbols  of  Regeneration :  but  neither 
of  them  is  Hegeneration  itself.  Hence,  though 
the  thing  signified  be  absolutely  indispensable, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  the  first  step  of  that  holiness 
without  which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord :  the 
sign,  whether  under  the  Law  or  under  the  Gos- 
pel, is  by  no  means  to  be  viewed  under  the  same 
alarming  aspect.* 

Yet,  with  whatever  degree  of  plainness  the 
real  nature  of  Circumcision  is  set  forth  by  Moses 
and  the  prophets,  so  lamentably  prone  is  man 
to  a  superstitious  reliance  upon  outward  cere- 
monies, that  the  Jews  seem  early  and  too  gene- 
rally to  have  mistaken  it.  Running  unhappily 
into  the  contrary  extreme  from  insolent  and 
profane  neglect  of  the  ordinance,  they  built  upon 
it  as  capable  in  itself  of  making  them  really 
God's  people.     Thus  we  find  even  some  He- 


*  Baptism  is  a  high  ordinance  of  God,  and  a  mean  whereby 
he  hath  appointed  to  communicate  Christ  and  his  benefits  to 
our  souls ;  and  therefore  not  to  be  neglected  or  slightly  es- 
teemed, but  used  with  all  reverence  and  thankful  devotion 
when  it  may  be  had.  Yet,  where  God  denieth  it,  either  in 
regard  of  the  shortness  of  the  infant's  life  or  by  any  other  un- 
avoidable necessity,  there  comes  no  danger  from  the  want  of 
the  sacraments  but  only  from  the  contempt  of  them.  Abp. 
Usher's  Body  of  Div.  p.  395. 

Faber.       43 


330  The  Katiire  of  Baptism. 

brew  converts  to  Christianity,  who  should  have 
known  better,  insisting  upon  the  impossibility  of 
being  saved  without  Circumcision  :*  whence  St. 
Paul  was  compelled  to  enforce  upon  the  Gala- 
tians  the  sound  spiritual  doctrine,  that  in  Jesus 
Christ  neither  Circumcision  availeth  any  things 
nor  Uncirciimcision^  but  Faith  which  worketh  by 
Iffve.j-  Here  we  may  observe  the  Apostle  lay- 
ing the  very  same  stress  upon  Faith  in  contradis- 
tinction to  any  outward  rite  when  beheld  with 
a  superstitious  reverence,  that  his  great  Master 
had  done  before  him.  Our  Lord  teaches,  that, 
while  the  baptized  believer  shall  be  saved,  the  un- 
believer only  shall  be  damned :  and  in  like  man- 
ner St.  Paul  maintains,  that  no  external  cere- 
mony can  iti  itself  avail  any  thing  to  salvation, 
but  only  Faith  which  shews  itself  to  be  genuine 
by  its  effects.  It  was  doubtless  to  guard  against 
such  dangerous  mistakes  respecting  Circumci- 
sion, that  Moses  insinuates  what  it  was  intended 
to  represent.  Circumcise  the  foreskin  of  your 
heart.,  and  be  no  more  stiff-necked. %  The  Lord 
thy  God  will  circumcise  thine  hearty  and  the  heart 
of  thy  seed,  to  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thi?ie 
heart  and  with  all  thy  soid,  that  thou  may  est  live.^ 
And  it  was  doubtless  with  the  same  purpose,  that 
Jeremiah  so  energetically  points  out  the  little 

*  Acts  XV.  1.  t  Gal.  V.  6. 

:|:  Deut.x.  16.  §  Deut.  xxx.  6. 


The  Kature  of  Baptism,  33 i 

use  of  outward  Circumcision,  if  the  heart  mean- 
while remained  uncircumcised.  Behold^  the  days 
come^  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  punish  all  the 
circumcised  with  the  uncircumcised.  Egypt,  and 
Jtidah,^  and  Edam,  and  the  children  of  Jlmmon, 
and  Moab,  and  all  that  are  in  the  utmost  corners 
that  dwell  in  the  wilderness :  for  all  these  nations 
ai^e  uncircumcised,  and  all  the  house  of  Israel  are 
uncircumcised  in  the  heart,* 

3.  We  may  now  specify,  it  is  hoped,  without 
much  difficulty,  the  nature  and  privileges  of 
Baptism. 

(1.)  This  ordinance,  then,  appointed  by  Christ 
himself,  may  be  viewed  as  the  door  of  entrance 
into  God's  visible  house  the  Church. 

It  is  a  federal  admission  into  the  pale  of  Chris- 
tianity. It  is  an  initiation  into  the  Mysteries  of 
the  Gospel.  And,  as  it  shadows  out  an  inward 
and  spiritual  new  birth  into  the  invisible  Church 
of  the  faithful,  so  itself  may  well  be  deemed  an 
outward  and  figurative  new  birth  from  a  state  of 
Gentilism  into  the  visible  Church:  for  every 
person  when  duly  baptized,  quits  a  former  mode 
of  existence  and  enters  upon  a  new  one.f 

*  Jerem.  ix.  25,  26. 
*  We  justly  hold  Baptism  to  be  the   door  of  our  actual 
entrance  into  God's  house.     Hooker's  Eccles.  Pol.  book  v. 
§60. 


332  The  Mature  of  Baptism. 

(2.)  Baptism,  being  thus  the  instrument  of 
admission  into  the  visible  Church,  becomes  of 
course  the  special  mark  or  badge  of  a  professing 
Christian  ;  just  as  Circumcision  was  the  special 
mark  or  badge  of  a  professing  Israelite. 

The  institution  of  Baptism,  as  it  is  a  federal  act  of  the 
Christian  religion,  must  be  taken  from  the  commission  of  our 
Saviour  given  to  his  Disciples.  Bp.  Burnet  on  the  xxxix 
Art.  Art.  xxvii.  As  for  the  ends  and  purposes  of  Baptism, 
St.  Paul  gives  us  two  :  the  one  is,  that  we  are  all  baptized  into 
one  body,  we  are  made  members  one  of  another  :  we  are  ad- 
mitted to  the  society  of  Christians,  and  to  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  that  body  which  is  the  Church, — But  a  second 
end  of  Baptism  is  internal  and  spiritual. — Baptism  makes  us 
the  visible  members  of  that  one  body,  into  which  we  are  bap- 
tized or  admitted  by  Baptism :  but  that  which  saves  us  in  it, 
which  both  deadens  and  quickens  us,  must  be  a  thing  of  an- 
other nature. — After  all,  this  is  not  to  be  believed  to  be  of 
the  nature  of  a  charm,  as  if  the  very  act  of  Baptism  carried 
ALWAYS  with  it  an  inward  Regeneration.  Here  we  must 
confess,  that  very  early  some  doctrines  arose  upon  Baptism, 
that  we  cannot  be  determined  by.     Ibid, 

There  is  a  baptismal  Regeneration,  whereby  all,  that  are 
made  partakers  of  that  ordinance,  are  according  to  Scripture 
language,  sanctified,  renewed,  and  made  the  children  of  God, 
and  brought  within  the  bond  of  the  covenant :  but  all  this  is 
but  after  an  external  manner,  as  being  in  this  ordinance  enter- 
ed members  of  the  visible  Church.  Now  this  external  Re- 
generation by  water  entitles  none  to  eternal  life,  but  as  the 
Spirit  moves  upon  the  face  of  these  waters,  and  doth  some- 
times secretly  convey  quickening  virtue  through  them.  Bp. 
Hopkins's  Works.  Serm.  xi.  p.  519. 


The  Kature  of  Baptism,  333 

Hence,  as  it  is  the  outward  sign  of  our  having 
received  the  Gospel,  no  one  can  presumptuously 
slight  or  neglect  it,  w^ithout  at  the  same  time 
throwing  contempt  upon  the  Gospel  itself :  just 
as,  among  men,  he,  who  treats  with  studied  con- 
tumely the  peculiar  badge  of  any  party  or  com- 
munity, is  ever  esteemed  decidedly  hostile  to 
that  party  or  community,* 

(3.)  As  Baptism  admits  us  into  the  visible 
Church,  so  does  it  likewise  admit  us  into  all  the 
privileges  enjoyed  by  members  of  that  Church. 

God's  promises,  that  our  sins  shall  be  forgiven 
on  sincere  repentance,  and  that  we  ourselves 
shall  become  his  adopted  children  through  the 
Holy  Ghost,  are  visibly  signed  and  sealed  to  us. 


*  Ecqua  alia  causa  subest,  quare  Dominus  externorum  eti- 
am  signorum  usum  adhiberi  voluerit  ?  Dominus  mysteria 
sua  in  hunc  prseterea  usum  instituit,  ut  professionis  nostrae  no- 
tce  atque  indicia  qusedam  essent,  quibus  de  fide  nostra  quasi 
testimonium  coram  hominibus  diceremus,  patefaceremusque 
nos  cum  aliis  piis  divinorum  beneficiorum  participes  esse,  et 
unum  cum  illis  religionis  quasi  concentum  atque  consensum 
habere,  Christianique  nominis  atque  appellationis  discipulo- 
rum  Christi  nos  minime  pudere  palam  testificaremur.  Quid 
ergo  de  illis  judicas,  qui  mysteriis  divinis  tanquam  minus 
necessariis,  carere  se  censent  ?  Primum,  huic  in  Deum  pa- 
trem  ac  Servatorem  nostrum  Jesum  Christum,  atque  ejus  eti- 
am  Ecclesiam,  officio  tam  pio  atque  debito  deesse  sine  summo 
scelere  non  possunt.  Nam  quid  hoc  aliud  esset,  quam  Chris- 
tum oblique  denegare  ?     Noelli  Catech.  p.  210. 


334  The  Miture  of  Baptism, 

We  may  henceforth,  not  by  a  mere  vague  sup- 
pheation,  but  on  the  express  ground  of  our  fede- 
ral relation  to  Christ,  claim  with  confidence 
every  benefit  which  he  has  purchased  for  his 
Church  :  so  that,  if  we  ask  faithfully,  we  cannot 
doubt  but  that  we  shall  receive  effectually. 

Nor  does  Baptism  simply  confer  this  privi- 
lege upon  us,  while  at  the  same  time  it  leaves 
us  in  a  state  of  incapacity  to  avail  ourselves  of 
it.  On  the  contrary,  by  rightly  grafting  us  into 
the  Church,  it  brings  us  into  the  way  of  being 
fully  instructed  in  all  the  doctrines  and  precepts 
of  Christianity  :  whence,  being  no  longer  in- 
volved in  that  thick  intellectual  and  moral  dark- 
ness which  overspreads  the  entire  pagan  world, 
we  are  led  clearly  to  discern  both  our  duties 
and  our  privileges  ;  and  feel  ourselves  assured, 
on  the  express  authority  of  God's  own  word, 
that  we  have  but  to  ask  in  order  that  we  may 
receive,  to  seek  in  order  that  we  may  find,  and 
to  knock  in  order  that  the  door  of  heaven  may 
be  opened  to  us. 

In  short,  nothing  will  better  teach  us  how  to 
estimate  properly  the  great  benefits  which  we 
derive  from  this  admission  into  Christ's  visible 
Church,  than  to  consider  the  condition  of  the 
Gentiles  when  left  to  the  mere  light,  or  rather 
to  the  palpable  darkness  of  nature.  St.  Paul,  at 
the  beginning  of  his  epistle  to  the  Romans,  has 


The  Nature  of  Baptism,  335 

given  us  a  lamentable  account  of  their  state. 
We  find  them  perishing,  as  the  prophet  assures 
us  men  may  perish, /or  lack  of  knowledge.^  So 
far  from  having  any  distinct  conceptions  of  what 
God  requires  at  the  hands  of  all  those  who  are 
admitted  into  his  presence,  they  were  intangled 
in  the  mazes  of  a  vile  superstition  which  pro- 
posed evil  as  their  highest  good.  Gross  as 
were  the  enormities  in  which  they  wallowed, 
they  plunged  into  them,  not  more  from  the  nat- 
ural corruption  of  the  human  heart,  than  from 
the  very  precepts  and  speculations  of  their  the- 
ology  itself  The  fountain  of  knowledge  was 
polluted :  the  streams  therefore,  which  it  sent 
forth,  could  not  but  be  bitter.  Doubtless  many 
baptized  persons  within  the  pale  of  every  visi- 
ble Church  shew  too  plainly  by  their  fruits,  that 
they  have  never  been  inwardly  baptized  by  the 
Holy  Ghost :  but,  between  their  condition  and 
that  of  the  unenlightened  pagan,  there  is  this 
grand,  this  essential,  difference.  The  Gentiles 
committed  various  abominations,  believing  that 
they  did  acceptable  service  to  their  false  gods  ; 
so  that,  with  such  a  conviction  on  their  minds, 
all  thorough  amendment  was  rendered  impossi- 
ble ;  but  every  person,  who  in  consequence  of 
his  Baptism  has  from  his  earliest  youth  been  ini- 

*  Hos.  iv.  6. 


336  The  JVat  lire  of  Baptism. 

tiated  into  the  doctrines  and  precepts  of  Christ- 
ianity,  has  a  clear  perception  of  the  radical  dis- 
tinction between  right  and  wrong.  A  pagan  did 
evil,  under  the  persuasion  that  his  evil  was  abso- 
lutely meritorious  :  but  no  one,  who  has  been 
instructed  by  the  Church,  can  thus  commit  ini- 
quity. He  may  indeed  break  his  baptismal 
vows,  and  may  conduct  himself  as  if  he  were  in- 
deed a  heathen  :  but  he  knows  all  the  while 
full  well,  that  he  is  acting  wrong,  and  that  for 
all  these  things  God  will  call  him  to  judgment. 
Hence  he  has  within  him  a  principle  of  reforma- 
tion, to  which  the  pagan  is  an  utter  stranger. 
His  conscience  is  enlightened,  though  his  prac- 
tice may  be  thoroughly  unworthy  of  a  Christ- 
ian. He  does  not  sui  through  ignorance  or  mis- 
apprehension. Hence  a  door  is  ever  open  for 
his  returning  to  that  gracious  God,  who  has  no 
pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked,  but  who  is 
always  ready  to  welcome  into  his  paternal  arms 
each  broken-hearted  returning  prodigal.  There 
is  reason  to  beheve,  that  an  early  Christian  edu- 
cation, however  for  a  time  it  may  seem  ineffec- 
tual, is  much  more  frequently,  than  some  are 
apt  to  imagine,  a  powerful  instrument  in  God's 
hand  for  effectually  gathering  to  himself  a  pecu- 
liar people  zealous  of  good  works. 


The  Nature  of  Baptism.  337 

Thus  great  and  numerous  are  the  privileges 
and  benefits  attached  to  Baptism.* 

(4.)  Baptism  then  is  not  only  an  outward 
badge  of  our  Christian  profession  ;  but  it  is  Uke- 
wise,  as  our  Church  rightly  defines  it  to  be,  an 
efficacious  mean  of  grace  and  a  pledge  to  assure 
us  of  its  reception,  unless  with  a  high  hand  we 
shut  ourselves  out  from  God's  covenant  and 
thus  declare  ourselves  unworthy  to  participate 
its  benefits. 

Such  a  modification  of  the  doctrine,  that  it  is 
a  mean  and  a  pledge,  is  evidently  required  both 
by  experience  and  common  sense.  So  far  as 
matter  of  fact  is  concerned,  we  do  not  find  that 
Baptism  is  a  mean  and  a  pledge  of  grace  to  all 
who  receive  it :  nor  is  it  agreeable  to  right  rea- 
son or  to  the  general  analogy  of  nature,  that  it 
should  be  so.  Baptism  acts  not  as  a  charm  :  it 
imposes  upon  no  one  an  invincible  necessity  of 

^  Sacraments  are  seals  of  the  promise  of  God  in  Christ : 
wherein,  by  certain  outward  signs  (and  sacramental  actions 
concerning  the  same,)  commanded  by  God,  and  delivered  by 
his  minister,  Christ  Jesus,  with  all  his  saving  graces,  is  signi- 
fied, conveyed,  and  sealed,  unto  the  heart  of  a  Christian.  For 
sacraments  are  seals  annexed  by  God  to  the  word  of  the  cove- 
nant of  grace  ;  to  instruct,  assure,  and  possess,  us  of  our  part 
in  Christ  and  his  benefits,  and  to  bind  us  to  all  thankful  obe- 
dience unto  God  in  him.  Abp.  Usher's  Body  of  Div.  p.  381. 
See  the  matter  further  explained  in  p.  388,  393,  395. 

Faber,  44 


338  The  Nature  of  Baptism. 

holiness.  It  is  a  mean  of  God's  grace,  only  so 
far  as  we  avail  ourselves  of  the  privileges  to 
which  it  entitles  us  ;  it  is  di pledge  of  our  receiv- 
ing it,  only  so  far  as  we  take  those  intermediate 
steps  upon  which  God  has  suspended  its  com- 
munication. A  brave  army  is  a  powerful  mean 
of  victory  :  but,  if  it  be  ill  supplied  and  worse 
conducted,  no  victory  will  be  obtained.  The 
delivering  of  a  turf  may  be  the  pledge  of  a  large 
estate  :  but,  if  the  estate  be  never  claimed-or  if 
all  right  to  it  be  forfeited  by  treason,  the  receiv- 
er of  the  turf  will  derive  no  benefit  from  the 
most  regularly  and  authentically  witnessed  re- 
ception of  it.  Just  so  is  it  with  Baptism :  as  a 
precept,  it  is  positive  ;  as  a  mean  and  a  pledge  of 
receiving  divine  grace,  it  is  conditional.  The 
whole  analogy  of  nature  cannot  be  violated  to 
drive  men  to  heaven,  nor  yet  in  some  cabalisti- 
cal  manner  to  convey  them  thither.  Baptism, 
though  in  a  modified  sense  of  the  words  both  a 
mean  and  a  pledge,  can  no  more  in  itself  secure 
an  admission  into  the  presence  of  God,  than  the 
fabulous  efficacy  attributed  by  monkish  super- 
stition to  the  cloak  and  scapulary  of  St.  Francis. 
We  must  do  our  parts  in  the  Christian  covenant, 
just  as  we  must  plow  and  sow  the  ground  with 
an  eye  to  a  future  plentiful  harvest  :  and  if  we 


The  Miture  of  Baptism.  339 

thus  act,  we  shall  then  find,  that  Baptism  is  both 
a  mean  and  a  pledge  of  grace.* 

*  Bp.  Burnet,  by  giving  too  strict  a  definition  of  the  word 
mean^  is  thence  led  to  deny  that  Baptism  is  a  mean  of  salva- 
tion. According  to  his  own  definition,  he  is  certainly  in  the 
right :  but  why  cannot  we  understand  the  word  mean  in  the 
more  limited  sense,  in  which  it  is  used  in  our  Chuixh  cate- 
chism ?  Why  may  we  not  suppose  it  to  denote  a  powerful 
indeed,  though  not  an  infallible,  instrument  of  procuring  grace 
first  and  afterwards  salvation  ? 

Our  Saviour,  says  the  Bishop,  has  made  Baptism  one  of 
the  fir eceptSy  though  not  one  of  the  ?}ieans  necessary  to  salva- 
tion. A  niean  is  that,  which  does  so  certainly  procure  a 
thing,  that,  it  being  had,  the  thing,  to  which  it  is  a  certain  and 
necessary  mean.,  is  also  had  ;  and  without  it  the  thing  cannot 
be  had  :  there  being  a  natural  connexion  between  it  and  the 
end.  Whereas  a  precept  is  an  institution,  in  which  there  is 
no  such  natural  efficiency  ;  but  it  is  positively  commanded,  so 
that  the  neglecting  of  it  is  a  contempt  of  the  authority  that 
commanded  it  :  and  therefore,  in  obeying  the  precept,  the 
value  or  virtue  of  the  action  lies  only  in  the  obedience.  This 
distinction  appears  very  clearly  in  M^hat  our  Saviour  has 
said  both  of  Faith  and  Baptism.  He.,  that  helieveth  and  is 
baptized.,  shall  be  saved ;  and  he.,  that  believeth  not.,  shall  be 
damned.  Where  it  appears,  that  Faith  is  the  meaji  of  salva- 
tion, with  which  it  is  to  be  had,  and  not  without  it  : — and  is 
so  put  by  Christ,  since  upon  our  having  it  we  shall  be  saved., 
as  well  as  damned  upon  our  not  having  it.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  nature  of  a  ritual  action,  even  when  commanded,  is 
such,  that,  unless  we  could  imagine  that  there  is  a  charm  in  it, 
which  is  contrary  to  the  spirit  and  genius  of  the  Gospel  which 
designs  to  save  us  by  reforming  our  natures,  we  cannot  think 
that  there  can  be  any  thing  in  it,  that  is  of  itself  effectual  as  a 
mean :  therefore  it  must  only  be  considered  as  a  command 
that  is  given  us,  which  we  are  bound  to  obey  if  we  acknow- 


340  The  Nature  of  Baptism. 

5.  These  remarks  necessarily  suppose,  that 
many  unworthy  persons,  both  infants  and  adults? 
may  be  admitted  into  the  visible  Church  by 
Baptism. 

Experience  accordingly  proves  the  truth  of 
the  supposition :  and  the  fact  itself  is  nothing 
more,  than  what  our  Lord  prepares  us  to  ex- 
pect in  more  than  a  single  parable. 

The  wheat  and  the  tares  grow  up  together, 
from  first  to  last,  in  the  same  field  ;  nor  is  any 
separation  made,  until  the  time  of  harvest :  fish- 
es, both  good  and  bad,  are  comprehended  with- 
in the  same  net :  nor  do  they  cease  to  company 
together,  until  the  net  is  drawn  forth  from  the 
water.*  Yet,  during  every  period  of  their  ex- 
ledge  the  authority  of  the  command.  But,  this  being  an  ac- 
tion that  is  not  always  in  our  power  but  is  to  be  done  by 
another,  it  were  to  put  our  salvation  or  damnation  in  the  pow- 
er of  another,  to  imagine  that  we  cannot  be  saved  without 
Baptism.  And  therefore  it  is  only  a  precept^  which  obliges 
us  in  order  to  our  salvation :  and  our  Saviour,  by  leaving  it 
out  when  he  reversed  the  words,  saying  onl}^  he  that  believeth 
not^  without  adding  and  is  not  baptized.,  shall  be  damned., 
does  plainly  insinuate,  that  it  is  not  a  mean.,  but  only  a  precept 
in  order  to  our  salvation.  Bp.  Burnet  on  the  xxxix  Art.  Art. 
XXVII. 

It  will  be  perceived,  that  the  Bishop  argues  from  the  omis- 
sion of  the  words  and  is  not  baptized  in  the  second  clause  of 
our  Lord's  declaration,  precisely  as  I  have  done,  and  as  I 
think  must  inevitably  be  done. 

*  Matt.  xiii.  24 — 30,  47 — 50.  Our  Lord  says,  that  the 
field  is  the  world :  whence  it  might  perhaps  be  argued,  that 


The  Mature  of  Baptism,  341 

istence,  the  tares  were  still  tares,  the  bad  fishes 
were  still  worthless.     No  alteration  took  place 

the  tares  are  heathens,  and  the  wheat  Christians.  The  whole 
tenor  however  both  of  the  parable  and  of  its  explanation  clear- 
ly shews,  that  this  is  not  the  case.  The  tares,  we  are  told, 
were  sown  among  the  wheat :  and  their  final  separation  from 
the  wheat  is  said  to  be  a  gathering  of  all  things  that  offend  and 
of  them  that  do  iniquity  from  out  of  Chrisfs  kingdom.  Ver. 
25, 40,  41.  If  then  at  the  last  day  the  tares  are  to  be  gathered 
from  out  of  Christ's  kingdom,  they  must  previously  have 
been  in  Christ's  kingdom  :  for  they  plainly  cannot  be  gather- 
ed out  o/'that,  in  which  they  never  were.  But  Christ's  king- 
dom here  denotes  his  visible  Church  upon  earth.  The  tares 
therefore,  until  the  day  of  the  figurative  harvest,  are  i?i  the 
visible  Church.  Thus  it  evidently  appears,  that  in  oiitxvard 
profession  they  are  Christians,  and  not  Pagans.  Hence  it 
will  follow,  that  the  sowing  of  the  tares  and  the  wheat  means 
the  baptismal  initiation  of  certain  very  opposite  characters  in- 
to the  visible  Church  :  and  they  are  said  to  be  sown  in  a  field 
which  represents  the  world,  because  the  universal  Church  is 
spread  abroad  through  every  part  of  the  globe.  Such  being 
the  case,  the  tares  no  more  cease  to  be  tares  in  consequence  of 
their  undergoing  the  same  outward  operation  as  the  wheat, 
than  unregenerate  men  cease  to  be  unregenerate  men  merely 
because  they  are  baptismally  introduced  into  the  same  visible 
Church  with  the  spiritually  regenerate.  '^I'hey  are  brought 
indeed  into  the  visible  Church  by  an  external  ordinance  ',  but,  as 
the  parable  teaches  us,  their  real  introducer  is  the  devil.  Not 
that  the  priest,  who  gave  them  Baptism,  is  at  all  to  blame  ; 
for  he  professes  not  to  be  a  reader  of  hearts  :  yet  his  inno- 
cence does  not  the  less  make  Satan  the  author  of  all  evil  in 
the  Church.  The  case  of  Simon  Magus  perfectly  explains 
this  part  of  the  parable.  He  was  duly  baptized  by  the  holy 
evangelist  Philip,  and  thus  rightly  admitted  into  the  visible 
Church.     Yet  his   secret  introducer  was  the  devil  :  for,  as 


34S  The  Nature  of  Baptism. 

in  the  nature  of  the  tares,  from  the  circumstance 
of  their  being  sown  in  the  self-same  field  with 
the  wheat :  no  alteration  took  place  in  the  na- 
ture of  the  bad  fish,  from  the  circumstance  of 
their  being  comprehended  within  the  self-same 
net  as  the  good.  Though  they  were  visibly  ad- 
mitted into  the  same  outward  condition  with 
what  was  truly  valuable,  their  admission  rested 
solely  on  externals.  The  tares  were  not  trans- 
muted into  wheat,  by  their  being  sown  in  a  wheat- 
field  :  neither  did  the  bad  fishes  suddenly  be* 
come  good,  in  consequence  of  their  being  in- 
closed in  the  same  net  with  the  excellent. 

Behold  here,  delineated  by  unerring  wisdom 
itself,  a  lively  picture  of  the  state  of  Christ's  vis- 
ible Church  and  the  nature  of  Baptism.  All  in- 
deed are  admitted  into  that  Church  by  Baptism : 
but  just  as  rationally  might  we  expect,  that  tares 
would  become  wheat  by  tlieir  being  sown  in  the 
same  field  with  wheat,  or  that  bad  fishes  would 
become  good  by  their  being  comprehended  in 
the  same  net  with  good ;  as  that  every  man, 
who  was  admitted  into  the  visible  Church  by 

the  tares  in  the  parable  are  said,  notwithstanding  their  being 
comprehended  within  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  to  be  the  child- 
ren of  the  wicked  one  ;  so  the  magician  is  declared,  notwith- 
standing his  being  brought  within  the  pale  of  the  visible 
Church  by  Baptism,  to  be  slill  in  the  gall  of  bitterness  and  in 
the  bond  of  iniquity. 


The  Nature  of  Baptism,  343 

Baptism,  necessarily  therefore  changed  his  na- 
ture and  became  truly  regenerate.  It  was  not, 
that  the  tares  became  wheat  by  the  act  of  sow- 
ing, and  afterwards  fell  back  to  the  condition  of 
tares ;  neither  was  it,  that  the  bad  fish  became 
good  by  the  act  of  inclosure  within  the  net,  and 
afterwards /eW  back  to  their  pristine  condition  of 
bad  ones :  on  the  contrary,  each  by  the  act,  to 
which  they  were  respectively  subjected,  expe- 
perienced  no  change,  save  what  was  altogether 
external.  Their  outward  condition^  not  their  in- 
ward nature^  was  the  thing  that  was  altered. 
Just  so  is  it  with  the  ordinance  of  Baptism.  It 
brings  men  indeed  into  the  society  of  Christians, 
and  admits  them  to  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  the  Church.  For  this  the  mere  outward  ac- 
tion is  sufficient :  nor,  as  we  are  unable  to  read 
the  human  heart,  are  we  to  repel  any  from  Bap- 
tism who  with  apparent  devoutness  may  wish  to 
partake  of  it ;  though  the  consequence  may  be, 
that  many  unworthy  persons  are  thence  baptiz- 
ed. But  that,  which  saves  in  Baptism,  must  be 
something  internal :  and  this  the  Spirit  of  God, 
who  moves  upon  the  surface  of  the  water,  can 
alone  confer.  In  each  sacrament,  God  himself 
Is  always  ready  to  give  with  the  sign  the  thing 
signified :  yet  it  cannot  be  doubted,  that  some, 


344  The  Mitiire  of  Baptism, 

in  receiving  the  signs,  receive  them  only  to  their 
own  judgment.* 

(6.)  As  Baptism  is  a  federal  admission  into 
the  Church  of  Christ,  it  necessarily  follows,  that 
a  baptism  into  what  is  not  the  Church  of  Christ 
is  itself  720  Baptism  at  all. 

Now  the  visible  Church  of  Christ,  as  it  is  well 
defined  in  our  nineteenth  Arti'  le,  is  a  congrega- 

tiOJl  O/'rAITHFUL  MEN,  111  which  THE  PURE  WORD 

of  God  is  preached,  and  in  zvhich  the  sacraments 
are  duly  administered  according  to  ChrisVs  ordi- 
nance in  all  things  that  of  necessity  are  requisite. 

In  this  definition,  our  reformers  did  not  mean 
to  shut  out  from  the  character  of  a  true  Church 

*  In  order  to  admit  us  into  the  society  of  Christians  and 
into  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  Church,  the  outward 
act  of  Baptism,  when  regularly  gone  about,  is  sufficient.  We 
cannot  see  into  the  sincerity  of  men's  hearts  :  outward  pro- 
fessions and  regular  actions  are  all  that  fall  under  men's  ob- 
servation and  judgment.  Bp.  Burnet  on  the  xxxix  Art.  Art. 
XXVII. 

Doth  the  minister  with  the  signs  give  the  things  signified 
also  ?  No  :  he  only  dispenseth  the  signs  ;  but  it  is  God  that 
giveth  and  dispenseth  the  things  signified.  Is  God  always 
present  to  give  the  thing  signified  to  all  them  that  the  minister 
giveth  the  sign  ?  No,  not  to  all :  for  some,  in  receiving  the 
signs,  receive  together  with  them  their  own  judgment.  Yet 
he  is  always  ready  to  give  the  thing  signified  to  all  those,  that 
are  fit  to  receive  the  sacraments  :  and  to  such  persons  the 
signs  and  things  signified  are  always  conjoined.  Abp.  Ush- 
er's Body  of  Div.  p.  385. 


The  Nature  of  Baptisfn.  345 

every  society  of  Christians,  which  might  have 
encumbered  the  pure  word  of  God  with  unautho- 
rized human  additions  ;  for,  in  that  case,  small 
indeed  would  be  the  congregation  of  faithful 
men :  but,  if  I  mistake  not,  they  only  excluded 
from  that  character  those,  who  subtracted  from 
the  pure  word  by  daring  heretical  curtail- 
ments. The  reason  is  obvious  :  in  the  one  case, 
we  still  have  faithful  men  or  men  professing  the 
genuine  Faith,  and  we  still  have  the  pure  word 
of  God  in  all  its  grand  essentials ;  though  un- 
happily much  error  and  much  superstition  may 
have  been  superinduced :  but,  in  the  other  case, 
we  have  neither  faithful  men  nor  the  pure  word ; 
for  the  men  have  relinquished  the  Faith  once 
delivered  to  the  saints,  and  the  word  by  pre- 
sumptuous mutilation  has  ceased  to  be  the  word 
of  God.  If  then  a  person  be  baptized  into  a  so- 
ciety which  holds  not  the  fundamentals  of  Chns- 
tianity  ;  his  Baptism  is  just  as  invalid,  as  if  he 
had  been  baptized  into  the  communion  of  the 
Mohammedans.  His  pretended  Baptism  is  a 
mere  washing  of  the  flesh  with  water:  and,  since 
it  has  not  been  administered  as  God  willed  and 
commanded  that  it  should  be  administered,  it 
were  nugatory  to  believe  that  it  can  be  accom- 
panied with  his  blessing. 

On  these  principles,  we  readily  admit  the  vali- 
dity of  B.iptism  in  the  Latin  and  Greek  Churches  : 

Faber,    45 


346  The  Nature  of  Baptism. 

nor  do  I  think,  that,  according  to  the  sound  defi- 
nition contained  in  our  nineteenth  article,  we 
can  consistently  deny  its  validity  in  any  ortho- 
dox communion  of  Christians,  though  the  exter- 
nal form  of  that  communion  may  not  be  precise- 
ly the  same  as  the  form  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. There  is  indeed,  so  far  as  1  can  judge, 
most  ample  warrant  from  ecclesiastical  history 
for  believing,  that  Episcopacy  is  not  only  the 
most  ancient  discipline,  but  that  it  is  even  of 
apostolical  institution.  Yet,  while  thus  far  is 
sufficiently  clear,  still  so  to  urge  its  absolute  in- 
dispensability^  as  to  shut  out  from  God's  cove- 
nant every  Christian  community  which  has  it  not, 
is  a  hard  saying,  which  I  dare  not  hazard,  and 
which  I  cannot  receive.  Arguments  may  long 
be  held  respecting  matters  of  opinion  ;  but  po- 
sitive facts  are  not  easily  set  aside.  When  there- 
fore we  behold  such  men  as  a  Doddridge  and  a 
Swartz,  to  omit  many  others  similarly  circum- 
stanced ;  men  who  belonged  not  to  nor  were 
baptized  into  an  episcopal  Church,  yet  men  on 
whom  rested  as  a  pencil  of  light  the  regenera- 
tive Spirit  of  the  great  God :  when  we  beholcj 
such  men  receiving  the  substance^  can  we  ration- 
ally deny  to  them  the  due  and  canonical  recep- 
tion of  the  s?/7?^&oL^  To  say  that  these  men  (and 
blessed  be  the  God  of  our  fathers,  many  such  are 
to  be  found  throughout  the  non-episcopal  pro^ 


The  Katiire  of  Baptism.  347 

testant  churches  of  Christendom),  whose  fruits 
proclaim  them  to  have  been  born  again  of  the 
Spirit  and  so  to  be  heirs  or  possessors  of  eternal 
life  :  to  say,  that  these  holy  men  have  never 
been  validly  admitted  by  the  outward  sign  of 
Baptism  into  the  visible  Church  of  Christ  as  de- 
fined by  our  godly  and  learned  reformers,  is  an 
assertion,  which  may  indeed  be  lightly  thrown 
out,  but  which  cannot  easily  be  made  good-* 

*  This  matter  is  stated  very  prudently  and  judiciously  by 
Bp.  Burnet. 

It  would  seem  reasonable  by  the  method  of  all  creeds,  in 
particular  of  that  called  the  Apostles'  Creed,  that  we  ought 
first  to  settle  our  faith  as  to  the  great  points  of  the  Christian 
religion,  and  from  thence  go  to  settle  the  notion  of  a  true 
Church  ;  and  that  we  ought  not  to  begin  with  the  notion  of  a 
Church,  and  from  thence  go  to  the  doctrine.  The  doctrine 
of  Christianity  must  be  first  stated,  and  from  this  we  are  to 
take  our  measure  of  all  Churches ;  and  that  chiefly  with  re- 
spect to  that  doctrine,  which  every  Christian  is  bound  to  be- 
lieve. Here  a  distinction  is  to  be  made  between  those  capital 
and  fundamental  articles,  without  which  a  man  cannot  be  es- 
teemed a  true  Christian,  nor  a  Church  a  true  Church  i  and 
other  truths,  which  being  delivered  in  Scripture,  all  men  are 
indeed  obliged  to  believe  them,  yet  they  are  not  of  that  na- 
ture, that  the  ignorance  of  them  or  an  error  in  them  can  ex- 
clude from  salvation. 

The  covenant  of  grace,  the  terms  of  salvation,  and  the 
grounds  on  which  we  expect  it,  seem  to  be  things  of  another 
nature  than  all  other  truths  ;  which,  though  revealed,  are  not 
of  themselves  the  means  or  conditions  of  salvation.  Where- 
soever true  Baptism  is,  there  it  seems  the  essentials  of  this 
covenant  are  preserved  :  for,  if  we  look  on  Baptism  as  a  fede- 


348  The  Nature  of  Baptism, 

III.  The  manifest  identity  of  Circumcision 
and  Baptism,  even  to  say  nothing  of  the  universal 
practice  of  the  Church  in  all  ages,  seems  abun- 
dantly to  determine  the  question  of  infant  Bap- 
tism. 

As  Circumcision  under  the  Law  is  the  avowed 
symbol  of  Regeneration,  and  as  Baptism  under 
the  Gospel  is  likewise  the  avowed  symbol  of  Re- 
generation ;  Circumcision  and  Baptism  are  evi- 
dently two  outward  sacramental  signs  of  exactly 
the  same  import.  But,  if  they  be  signs  of  the 
same  spiritual  grace,  they  must  to  all  effective 
purposes  be  mutually  the  same  with  each  other : 
for,  a  sign  being  altogether  arbitrary,  if  it  had 
pleased  God  to  shadow  out  Regeneration  by  a. 
hundred  different  signs,  all  those  hundred  signs 
would  still  constitute  but  a  single  sacrament. 

ral  admission  into  Christianity,  there  can  be  no  Baptism 
where  the  essence  of  Christianity  is  not  preserved.  As  far 
then  as  we  believe  that  any  society  has  preserved  that,  so  far 
we  are  bound  to  receive  her  Baptism,  and  no  further — 

From  hence  it  will  follow,  that  all,  who  have  a  true  Baptism 
that  makes  men  believers  and  Christians,  must  also  have  the 
true  Faith  as  to  the  essentials  of  Christianity ;  the  fundamen- 
tals of  Christianity  seem  to  be  all,  that  is  necessary  to  make 
Baptism  true  and  valid — When  we  acknowledge  that  any  so- 
ciety is  a  true  Church,  we  ought  to  be  supposed  to  mean  no 
other,  than  that  the  covenant  of  grace  in  its  essential  consti- 
tuent parts  is  preserved  entire  in  that  body ;  and  not  that  it  is 
true  in  all  its  doctrines  and  decisions.  Bp.  Burnet  on  the 
xxxix  Art,  Art.  xix. 


The  Nature  of  Baptism,  349 

Such  then  bemg  the  case,  as  Go</ judged  mere 
children  under  the  Law  to  be  fully  capable  of 
entering  into  covenant  with  him  by  Circumci- 
sion on  the  eighth  day,  man  can  have  no  right 
to  pronounce  mere  children  under  the  Gospel 
incapable  of  entering  into  covenant  with  him  by 
Baptism.  Every  argument  against  infant  Bap- 
tism, derived  from  the  necessary  want  of  active 
Faith  on  the  part  of  children,  will  be  equally  co- 
gent against  infant  Circumcision :  for  Faith  was 
so  much  the  grand  principle  of  the  Law  as  well 
as  of  the  Gospel,  that  the  pious  patriarch  of  the 
Israelites  is  specially  decorated  with  the  title  of 
the  father  of  the  faithful.  But  God  has  decided 
the  question  in  the  matter  of  Circumcision. 
Therefore,  Circumcision  being  effectively  the 
same  as  Baptism,  he  has  equally  decided  it  in 
the  matter  of  Baptism.  Hence,  in  every  age 
and  in  every  country,  with  the  sole  exception  of 
a  modern  innovating  sect,  Pedobaptism  has  in- 
variably been  adopted :  and  hence  the  Church 
of  England  well  determines,  that  the  baptism  of 
young  children  is  in  any  wise  to  be  retained  in  the 
Church,  as  most  agreeable  with  the  institution  of 
Christ* 

IV.  The  efficacious  administration  of  Baptism 
doubtless  consists  in  the  administering  of  it  pre^ 

*  Art.  xxvii. 


350  The  Nature  of  Baptism* 

cisely  according  to  the  direction  of  Christ:  that  is 
to  say,  the  officiating  minister  is  to  wash  with  wa- 
ter the  person  who  is  brought  to  receive  the  sa- 
crament, pronouncing  at  the  same  time  the  for- 
mula enjoined  by  our  Lord  ;  /  baptize  thee  in  the 
name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  Nothing  beyond  this  is  necessary  to  con- 
stitute a  vahd  Baptism. 

1.  Yet,  while  the  Church  presumes  not  to 
baptize  after  any  other  formula,  she  is  at  full  li- 
berty to  add  to  it  whatever  she  may  rationally 
judge  conducive  to  edification  ;  agreeably  to  the 
apostolic  precept,  Let  all  things  he  done  decently 
and  in  order. 

On  this  ground,  while  she  has  immemorially 
called  upon  the  assembled  congregation  to  be- 
seech God,  in  a  suitable  form  of  prayer,  that  the 
child  may  lead  the  rest  of  his  life  according  to 
the  tenor  of  his  baptismal  initiation :  well  know- 
ing, that  we  are  not  to  expect  an  end  without  the 
use  of  adequate  means,  and  that  the  parents  of  a 
child  have  not  always  either  tlie  ability  or  the  in- 
clination to  see  that  it  be  virtuously  brought  up 
and  instructed ;  from  a  laudable  wish  to  make 
assurance  doubly  sure,  she  has  wisely  ordained, 
that  every  baptized  infant  shall  have  certain 
sponsors  or  sureties  distinct  from  his  natural 
parents,  who  shall  both  take  upon  them  in  his 
behalf  the  federal  vows  of  a  Christian,  and  shall 


The  Mature  of  Baptism,  351 

engage  to  see  that  he  is  duly  instituted  in  the 
Mysteries  of  the  Gospel  if  his  own  father  and 
mother  should  wickedly  neglect  their  duty. 

The  custom,  like  the  rite  of  Baptism  itself, 
was  borrowed  from  the  Jews :  for,  since  our 
Lord  did  not  disdain  to  adopt  the  rite  into  his 
own  dispensation,  the  primitive  Church  might 
well  feel  herself  fully  warranted  still  to  associ- 
ate with  that  rite  its  ancient  and  usual  concomi- 
tant.* At  all  events,  nothing  can  be  more  ju- 
dicious and  better  conceived  than  such  a  regu- 
lation ;  the  Church  thus  requiring  and  obtaining 
a  two-fold  assurance,  that  the  baptized  cliild 
shall  not  grow  up  in  the  state  of  an  unbaptized 
heathen. 

Nor  is  aught  detracted  from  the  wisdom  and 
piety  of  the  regulation,  by  the  too  frequent  con- 
sidering of  it  as  a  mere  empty  form.  If  sponsors 
pledge  themselves  to  an  office,  which  in  the 
event  of  parental  negligence,  they  have  not  the 
least  intention  of  fulfilling ;  the  fault  rests  at 
their  door,  not  at  that  of  the  Church.  She,  like 
a  faithful  and  provident  mother,  has  at  least 
done  her  part:  nor  is  she  to  be  blamed,  because 
the  sponsors  have  not  performed  their  part.  If 
they  have  neglected  a  purely  voluntary  engage- 


*  Wheatley  on  the  Common  Prayer,  chap.  vii.  sect.  1. 
p.  314.  Oxon, 


S52  The  Nature  of  Baptism. 

merit,  let  them  see  to  it :  the  Church  is  clear  in 
this  matter. 

S.  But,  that  souls  may  not  perish  for  lack  of 
knowledge  and  through  the  criminal  negligence 
of  parents  or  sponsors,  the  Church,  still  rationally 
looking  for  no  effects  save  in  the  diligent  use  of 
suitable  means,  enjoins,  that  her  appointed  min- 
isters shall  regularly  instruct  children  after  Bap- 
tism, as  they  attain  to  a  fit  age,  in  all  the  doc- 
trines and  duties  of  Christianity  ;  that  so  they  be 
not  through  gross  ignorance  rendered  physical- 
ly incapable  of  deriving  benefit  from  the  gra- 
cious aspirations  of  God's  most  Holy  Spirit. 

For  this  purpose  the  Church  of  England,  af- 
ter the  example  of  the  primitive  Church,  has 
provided  an  excellent  catechetical  compendium  : 
and,  if  this,  agreeably  to  her  express  injunction, 
be  duly  explained  to  children  in  a  manner  suita- 
ble to  their  comprehensions,  and  if  both  by  the 
clergy  and  the  parents  the  blessing  of  God  be 
devoutly  invoked  upon  these  instrumental  means 
of  grace  ;  we  may  then  rest  in  a  well-founded 
hope,  that,  where  any  baptized  person  (to  adopt 
the  sound  words  of  Bp.  Burnet)  has  been  want- 
ing in  the  inward  acts  of  spiritual  Regeneration, 
those  may  he  afterwards  renewed  and  that  want 
may  be  made  up  by  repentance.^ 

*  Bp.  Buraet  on  the  xxxix  Art.  Art.  xxvii. 


The  Kature  of  Baptism.  3  3  S 

At  any  rate,  whatever  may  be  the  final  and 
inscrutable  purpose  of  the  Most  High,  though 
the  utmost  dUigence  and  faithfulness  in  the  use 
of  means  will  unhappily  not  always  produce  the 
desired  effect  ;  still  let  parents  and  sponsors 
and  pastors  severally  exert  themselves  in  their 
respective  spheres  of  action,  and  they  may  then 
rest  fully  assured  that  to  them  in  the  sight  of 
God  no  blame  will  attach  itself.  They  will  have 
delivered  their  own  souls,  though  their  precious 
seed  may  have  been  scattered  in  a  barren  and 
dry  land,  and  though  they  may  have  to  lament 
in  too  many  instances  that  the  figurative  Circum- 
cision of  their  youthful  charge  has  in  adult  age 
evinced  itself  to  be  mere  Uncircumcision. 


Faber,  46 


SERMON  X. 


THE  PREDESTINARIAN  CONTROVERSY. 


1   THESSAL.    V.    SI. 

Prove  all  thifigs  :  holdfast  that  which  is  good. 

AT  the  time  of  the  Reformation  from  Popery, 
one  great  point  insisted  on  by  the  godly  men 
who  conducted  it  was  the  right  of  private  judg- 
ment possessed  by  all  Christians.  They  deter- 
mined, that  the  Bible,  and  the  Bible  alone,  con- 
tained the  religion  of  Protestants  :  and,  as  they 
found  our  Lord  himself  directing  men  to  search 
the  Scriptures  in  quest  of  divine  truth,  as  they 
observed  the  Bereans  commended  because  they 
searched  the  Scriptures  daily  whether  the  things 
taught  even  by  the  x\postles  were  so,  and  as  they 
perceived  that  the  Thessalonians  were  enjoined 
to  prove  all  things  in  order  that  thus  by  a  judi- 
cious selection  they  might  hold  fast  that  which  is 


Predestinarian  Controversy.  356 

good  ;*  they  naturally  concluded,  that,  in  every 
grand  essential,  the  book  would  be  so  plain,  that 
he  might  run  who  readeth.  They  were  aware 
indeed  that  it  contained  various  matters,  the  full 
elucidation  of  which  might  require  a  considera- 
ble degree  of  learning  :  but,  in  all  points  neces- 
sary to  be  understood  and  believed  by  Christian 
men,  they  beheld  it  setting  forth  propositions  in 
themselves  so  plain  and  so  perfectly  intelligible, 
that  these  scarcely  could  be  misapprehended  ex- 
cept by  wilful  perverseness. 

Thus,  whatever  mystery  there  may  be  in  the 
doctrine  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  in  the  atonement 
effected  by  the  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the 
necessitv  of  a  belief  in  him  with  a  view  to  salva- 
tion,  and  in  a  taint  of  original  corruption  derived 
from  our  first  parents:  whatever  mystery  there 
may  be  in  all  these  as  fads^  there  is  no  difficulty 
whatsoever  in  understanding  them  as  naked 
proposUio7is.  Hence,  while  the  catholic  Church 
adopts  them  as  articles  of  Faith,  she  need  not 
fear  exhorting  the  plainest  Christian  to  search 
the  Scriptures  whether  these  things  be  so  in- 
deed. Much  as  we  require  spiritual  illumina- 
tion to  enable  us  to  comprehend  with  all  saints^ 
what  is  the  breadth  and  length  and  depth  and 
height^  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ  which  pas^ 

*  John  V.  39.     Acts  xvii.  11.     1  Thess.  v.  21. 


356  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

seth  knowledge  .-*  still,  to  understand  the  sense 
conveyed  in  any  mere  proposition  of  any  writer 
whether  inspired  or  uninspired,  nothing  is  want- 
ed beyond  a  sound  intellect  and  an  honest  heart. 
For  instance,  He  that  helieveth  not  shall  he  damn- 
ed is  a  proposition,  of  which  the  most  illiterate 
peasant  cannot  mistake  the  import :  though  the 
suspending  of  man's  final  salvation  upon  Faith 
in  a  Redeemer  is  a  mystery,  into  which  the  very 
angels  desire  to  look. 

In  reality,  wherever  spiritual  illumination  is 
needed,  it  is  needed  just  as  much  by  the  learned 
as  by  the  unlearned.  We  are  not  told,  that  the 
IGNORANT  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  while  the  literate  man  does  re- 
ceive them  :  but  we  are  told,  that  the  natural, 
7wa72,  whether  ignorant  or  literate,  receiveth  them 
not  ;  and  the  reason  assigned  is,  that  they  are 
foolishness  unto  him,  neither  can  he  know  them  be- 
cause they  are  spiritually  discerned.\  With  re- 
spect to  the  mere  naked  setting  forth  of  these 
things  of  God,  it  is  not  that  that  is  unintelligible 
either  to  the  one  or  to  the  other.  This  they 
understand  fully,  so  far  as  the  bare  propositions 
themselves  are  concerned  ;  otherwise,  it  is  ob- 
vious that  they  could  pass  no  judgment  upon 
them,  which  they  manifestly  do  by  pronouncing 

*  Ephes.  iii.  18, 19.  f  1  Corin.  ii.  14. 


Predestinarian  Controversy.  257 

them  to  be  foolishness:  but   the  purpose,  for 
which  they  equally   need  the  teaching  of  the 
Blessed  Spirit,  is  this  ;  that,  understanding  by 
the  ordinary  exertion  of  their  intellect  the  gram- 
matical meaning  of  such  propositions,  they  may 
be  further  led  to  receive  them  cordially,  to  build 
upon  them  all   their  best  hopes,  and  to  view 
them  (as  they  are  indeed)  the  wisdom  of  God  in 
a  mystery.     In  both  tliese  particulars  then,  the 
learned  and  the  unlearned  stand  exactly  on  the 
same  footing :  they  are  equally  able  to  under- 
stand  the   purport  of  the  naked   propositions 
themselves,  and  they  are   equally  unable  to  re- 
ceive them  as  saving  truths  without  the  gracious 
illumination  of  God's  Holy  Spirit.     If  indeed  it 
w^ere  otherwise,  the  Gospel  would  be  deprived 
of  its  grand   characteristic,  that  it  should  be 
preached  to  the  poor  :  for,  supposing  it  to  con- 
tain only  a  string  of  propositions  couched  in  such 
abstruse  metaphysical  language  that  they  could 
not  comprehend  the  meaning  of  a  single  syllable, 
it  is  perfectly  clear,  that,  in  the  very  nature  of 
things,  they  never  could  be  one  jot  the  wiser  for 
what  they  heard.     But  of  this  the  very  reverse 
is  the  case.     The  Bible  does  indeed  treat  of  the 
deep  things  of  God  :  but  those  deep  things  are 
set  forth  in  terms^  which  cannot  be  misappre- 
hended by  the  meanest  capacity,  though  the 
things  themselves  must  ever  remain  mysteries 


358        The  Predestinanan  Controversy. 

to  the  wisest  among  us  just  as  much  as  to  the 
most  ignorant. 

Exactly  on  the  same  principle,  as  the  terms 
are  intelligible;  so  any  plain  unlettered  man 
may  distinctly  see  and  judge  for  himself,  whether 
the  Bible  does  not  contain  certain  propositions 
exhibited  in  perfectly  intelligible  terms.  A  vast 
and  cumbrous  mass  of  superstition  may  no 
doubt  be  added  by  human  contrivance  and  for 
human  purposes ;  but  the  scriptural  propositions 
still  remain  unaltered.  Our  reformers  therefore 
did  wisely,  in  making  the  Bible  the  only  standard 
of  truth ;  and,  as  it  was  written  for  popular  com- 
prehension, in  claiming  a  right  for  every  Chris- 
tian to  examine  its  contents  agreeably  to  the 
rule  of  plain  common  sense  and  according  to 
the  grammatical  principles  on  which  we  should 
examine  any  other  book.  Now  any  other  book 
might  set  forth  a  thing  hard  to  be  comprehend- 
ed, in  terms  perfectly  clear  and  perspicuous  ;  so 
that,  whether  we  chose  to  admit  the  thing  or  not, 
we  should  be  in  no  danger  of  misapprehending 
the  terms:  thus,  if  you  informed  a  peasant  from 
a  work  on  mathematics  that  two  lines  might  for 
ever  be  approaching  to  each  other  and  yet  never 
meet,  he  would  fully  understand  the  terms  in 
which  the  thing  was  declared,  though  he  would 
not  at  all  understand  the  thing  itself  Precisely 
in  the  same  manner,  the  Bible  may  very  un- 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy,        359 

ambiguously  ascribe  the  divine  titles  and  attri- 
butes to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  for  instance ; 
and  the  most  ordinary  day-labourer  will  find  no 
dificulty  in  comprehending  what  his  Saviour 
means,  when  he  asserts  of  himself,  I  am  the  he- 
ginning  and  the  ending^  which  is  and  ivhich  was 
and  which  is  to  come,  the  Almighty.*  Yet,  though 
he  will  find  no  difficulty  in  understanding  the 
terms  of  this  assertion :  he  will  still  be  utterly 
unable  to  form  any  distinct  conception  withia 
himself  of  the  doctrine  conveyed  by  those  terms ; 
he  will  still  be  profoundly  ignorant  as  to  the 
mode^  in  which  Christ  can  be  almighty  and  eter- 
nal and  yet  a  different  person  from  the  Father 
and  the  Spirit,  while  his  Bible  positively  assures 
him  that  there  is  but  one  God.  In  this  difficulty 
however  he  finds  himself  placed,  not  because  he 

is     UNLETTERED,     but     bccaUSC     hc    is    A    FINITE 

CREATURE.  If  hc  posscsscd  all  the  learning  in 
the  world,  he  would  still  be  placed  in  the  very 
same  difficulty  -,  he  would  still  find  himself  as 
far  removed  as  ever  from  a  comprehension  of 
the  mystery.  His  acquired  learning  would  not 
enable  him  to  understand  the  terms  of  the  pro- 
position at  all  more  clearly  than  he  does  at  pre- 
sent :  neither  would  it  enable  him  to  compre- 
hend the  doctrine  set  forth  in  that  proposition  a 

*  Rev.  i.  8,  11,  17,  18. 


360        Tfie  Predestiiiarian  Controversy. 

whit  more  distinctly  than  he  did  in  his  state  of 
ignorance.  The  lettered  and  the  unlettered 
here  find  themselves  on  a  footing  of  perfect 
equality.  They  can  alike  understand  the  terms ; 
because  for  that  nothing  more  is  required,  than 
plain  common  sense  and  a  competent  knowledge 
of  their  mother  tongue  :  they  are  alike  unable 
to  comprehend  the  doctrine ;  because  that  re- 
lates to  the  essence  of  an  infinite  God,  while 
they  are  both  finite  creatures. 

Such  being  the  nature  of  Scripture,  it  will  be 
found  of  sovereign  use  in  determining  the  truth 
or  falsehood  of  any  proposition,  to  which  we 
may  be  brought  by  a  train  of  abstract  reasoning 
from  a  particular  text.  It  may  perhaps  be  no 
easy  matter  to  detect  a  flaw  in  the  reasoning 
itself:  step  may  seem  to  follow  step  with  irre- 
fragable necessity :  and  we  may  appear,  so  far  as 
metaphysical  induction  is  concerned,  absolutely 
compelled  to  adopt  a  very  unexpected  system 
of  theology.  But  here  we  find  the  infinite  value 
of  those  plain  terms,  in  which  every  scriptural 
proposition  is  declared.  We  must  bring  our 
imagined  invincible  conclusions  to  the  law  and 
to  the  testimony :  we  must  prove  all  things  by 
the  express  word  of  God  :  we  must  search  the 
Scriptures  to  learn,  whether  these  matters  be  so 
indeed.  If  they  contradict  our  conclusions  ;  we 
may  be  sure  that  there  is  some  error  in  our  rea- 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy,         361 

soiling,  though  we  may  not  be  able  to  point  out 
the  precise  link  in  the  chain  where  it  can  be 
pronounced  to  lurk.  To  frame  compact  sys- 
tems, with  much  apparent  plausibility,  is  no  very 
difficult  matter  ;  and  we  may  amuse  ourselves 
with  observing  the  fruitless  efforts  of  an  adver- 
sary to  invalidate  any  particular  proposition, 
without  at  the  same  time  invalidating  the  mother 
text  whence  that  proposition  is  regularly  and 
scientifically  deduced :  but  the  only  mode  in 
which  we  can  attain  to  the  truth,  is  to  resort  di- 
rectly to  Scripture  ;  the  only  mode,  in  which  we 
can  hope  to  hold  fast  that  which  is  good,  is  to 
bring  every  distinct  proposition  and  conclusion 
to  the  unerring  test  of  God's  word.  By  such  a 
process,  our  religious  system  may  lose  much  of 
its  metaphysical  concinnity :  but,  w^hat  it  loses 
in  concinnity  and  rotundity,  it  will  gain  in  truth 
and  sohdity.  Man  has  ever  delighted  in  syste- 
matic compactness :  and  this  passion,  which 
springs  in  reality  from  an  overweening  opinion 
of  his  own  reasoning  powers,  holy  Scripture  is 
admirably  calculated  to  mortify. 

I.  In  every  controversy  much  useless  alter- 
cation might  be  avoided,  were  all  extraneous 
matter  carefully  separated  from  those  points, 
concerning  which  the  controversy  is  agitated. 

Thus,  in  the  dispute  between  the  Calvinists 
and  the  Armeinians,  no  doctrines  ought  to   be 

Faber,  47 


36S         The  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

termed  Calvinistic^  but  those  which  belong  eX" 
clusively  to  Calvinism.  The  orthodox  tenets  of 
Original  Si7i,  Human  Insufficiency^  Jiistijicatiofi  by 
the  sole  merits  of  Christ,  and  certain  others  which 
might  easily  be  mentioned,  are  no  more  peculiar 
to  that  system,  than  the  doctrine  of  the  Tnnity  : 
and  yet  many  Calvinists  are  wont  to  claim  them 
as  entirely  their  own ;  *  and  some  Arminians 
have  shewn  themselves  either  very  ignorant  or 
very  unguarded,  in  styling  all  men  who  hold 
them  Calvinists.  As  for  the  Church  of  England, 
she  has  explicitly  declared  her  assent  to  them  : 
but  it  does  not  therefore  follow,  as  the  more  in- 
temperate among  the  Calvinists  would  persuade 
us,  either  that  she  requires  us  to  subscribe  to 
every  peculiarity  of  Calvinism  properly  so  call- 
ed; or  that  all  those,  who  hold  with  the  Church 
the  doctrines  of  Original  Sin,  Human  Insuffi- 
ciency, and  Justification  by  the  sole  merits  of 
Christ,  must,  by  a  necessary  consequence,  hold 
likewise  the   tenets  of  Particular  Redemption, 


*  This  is  strongly  implied  in  the  title  of  a  very  useful  work 
by  Mr.  Fuller ;  The  Cahimstic  and  Socinian  Systems  ex- 
amined and  compared;  and  it  more  or  less  appears  in  the 
conducting  of  the  whole  argument.  The  title  would  seem  to 
insinuate,  that  Calvinism  stood  specially  opposed  to  Socinian- 
ism ;  an  implied  claim,  which  I  need  scarcely  observe  can  by 
no  means  be  allowed. 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy.        363 

Reprobation^  and  Election  according  to  the  Cal- 
vinistic  interpretation  of  the  word.* 

II.  In  justification  of  their  respective  opinions, 
both  Calvinists  and  Arminians  of  course  appeal 
to  Scripture  :  but  it  is  one  thing  to  cite  a  text, 
and  another  to  give  a  consistent  exposition  of  it. 
In  all  ages  of  the  Church,  nothing  has  so  much 
injured  the  cause  of  truth,  as  an  extravagant  and 
bigoted  adherence  to  system  and  party,  com- 
bined with  the  pride  of  never  giving  up  an  opi- 
nion which  has  once  been  advanced.  Prejudice 
in  favour  of  any  particular  system  blinds  the  eyes 
of  the  understanding :  party-spirit  produces  at 
once  extreme  rashness  and  determined  pertina- 
city :  and  the  stubborn  pride  of  human  nature 
has  afterwards  no  inconsiderable  share  in  perpe- 
tuating those  controversies,  to  which  a  love  of 
system  originally  gave  birth.  What  a  man  has 
once  asserted,  he  is  ashamed  and  unwilling  to 
retract :  he  fears  the  laugh  of  the  world  and  the 
reproaches  of  his  own  party ;  and  he  will  often 

*  Our  articles  affirm  certain  things,  which  we  hold  in  coiUr 
mon  with  the  Calvinists,  says  the  late  Bp.  Horsley :  so  they 
affirm  certain  things,  which  we  hold  in  common  with  the  Lu- 
therans ;  and  some  things,  which  we  hold  in  common  with 
the  Romanists.  It  cannot  well  be  otherwise  :  for,  as  there  are 
certain  principles  which  are  comjnon  to  all  Protestants,  so  the 
essential  articles  of  faith  are  common  to  all  Christians.  Bp, 
Horsley's  Remarks  on  Priestley's  second  Letter,  p.  73. 


364        The  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

have  recourse  to  the  most  disingenuous  sophisms, 
rather  than  honestly  confess  himself  to  have 
been  mistaken.  These  sophisms,  being  very 
easily  detected,  are  sometimes  exposed  with 
rather  too  much  sarcastic  triumph :  whence  a 
certain  irritation  of  mind  is  pioduced,  wliich 
usually  vents  itself  in  seizing  the  earhest  op- 
portunity of  making  reprisals.  The  more  se- 
verely each  party  is  treated,  the  more  it  be- 
comes wedded  to  its  own  peculiarities  :  and,  in- 
stead of  endeavouring  to  heal  the  breaches  in 
the  Church,  it  strives  to  recede  as  far  as  possi- 
ble from  the  ground  occupied  by  its  adversary. 
With  regard  to  the  Calvinistic  controversy,  a 
sober  inquirer  may  possibly  be  disposed  to  think, 
that  the  fault  of  the  violent  (I  speak  only  of  the 
violent)  on  each  side  of  the  question  is  this:  they 
are  alike  unwilling  to  take  the  Bible  as  they  find 
it ;  and  they  are  alike  anxious  to  deduce  a  chain 
of  their  own  conclusions  from  premises,  which 
themselves  are  undoubtedly  scriptural.  These 
two  different  sets  of  conclusions,  when  worked 
up  into  two  opposite  systems,  are  respectively 
adopted  as  the  creeds  of  the  two  parties:  and 
each  is  resolutely  defended  by  its  favourers,  as 
the  unadulterated  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  as  the 
most  infalhble  test  of  true  churchmanship.  The 
consequence  is,  the  violent  of  one  party  run 
away  with  one  half  of  the  Bible,  and  the  violent 


Predestinarian  Controversy.  365 

of  the  other  party  with  the  other  half;  both 
equally  striving  either  to  bend  or  to  break  those 
texts,  which  do  not  agree  with  their  precon- 
ceived opinions. 

Thus  the  system-loving  Calvinist  will  very  lo- 
gically prove,  or  at  least  he  will  seem  to  prove, 
that  man  is  entirely,  passive  in  the  work  of  salva- 
tion ;  in  other  words,  that  he  is  a  mere  machine 
in  the  hands  of  that  God,  who  imparts  his  grace 
only  to  those  whom  he  has  purposed  to  save : 
while  the  similarly  system-loving  Arminian,  if 
he  push  his  principles  to  their  utmost  extent,  af- 
ter he  has,  to  all  appearance,  no  less  logically  de- 
monstrated from  Scripture,  that  man  is  perfect- 
ly a  free  agent ;  will  not  easily  avoid  demon- 
strating also,  that  he  is  able  by  his  own  unassist- 
ed strength  to  perform  the  commandments  of 
God.  Each  of  these  diametrically  opposite  po- 
sitions may,  with  a  great  shew  of  fairness  and  im- 
partiality, be  easily  maintained  by  arguments 
drawn  from  insulated  texts  ;  audit  may  perhaps 
be  a  difficult  matter  to  point  out  the  precise 
link  in  the  chain  of  reasoning,  where  the  fallacy 
lies :  yet,  if  Scripture  be  attended  to  as  a  whole^ 
we  shall  find  something  true  and  something  false 
in  each  of  them.  Work  out,  says  an  inspired 
teacher,  your  ow?i  salvation  with  fear  and  trem- 
bling :  for  it  is  God,  xvhich  workeih  in  you  both 


366  Predestinarian  Controversy, 

to  will  and  to  do,  of  his  good  pleasure*  Here  a 
part  is  evidently  assigned  to  man,  and  a  part  to 
God.  AVhen  our  Lord  commanded  the  person 
with  a  withered  arm  to  stretch  it  forth,  he  might 
have  refused  on  the  plea  of  physical  inability  : 
but  he  made  the  effort  with  faith ;  and,  in  making 
it,  he  received  that  strength  which  he  did  not 
possess  before.  The  command  of  God  is  abso- 
lute to  all  men  :  TVork  out  your  own  salvatioji 
with  fear  and  trembling.  If  we  obey  the  com- 
mand, as  the  cripple  did  the  injunction  of  Christ, 
God  assuredly  will  not  be  deficient  on  his  part, 
in  working  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do :  but,  if  we 
disobey  it,  then,  in  the  same  manner  as  our 
Lord  on  one  occasion  was  not  able  (that  is,  con- 
sistently with  the  plan  laid  down  by  Divine  Wis- 
dom) to  work  many  miracles  because  of  men's 
unbelief  ;t  so  neither  can  God,  consistently  with 
his  scheme  of  moral  government,  reduce  us  to  a 
state  of  mere  machines,  and  compel  us  by  an 
act  of  irresistible  violence  to  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of heaven.  J 

*  Philip,  ii.  12,  13.  |  Mark  vi.  5,  6. 

\  Much  confusion  and  much  controversial  anger  seems  to 
me  to  have  not  unfrequently  arisen  from  a  want  of  accurately 
distinguishing  between  moral  free-will  3iid  natural  free-will. 
We  certainly  have  it  not  in  our  power,  without  special  assis- 
tance from  above,  to  obey  a  commandment,  which  enjoins  us, 
to  love  what  our  corrupt  hearts  from  the  very  circumstance  of 


Predestinarian  Controversy,  367 

in.  As  this  single  instance  may  not  be  deemed 
sufficient  to  point  out  the  fallaciousness  and 
danger  of  constructing  systems  and  of  imposing 
them  as  necessary  articles  of  doctrine  ;  I  shall 
exhibit  the  two  chains  of  reasoning,  by  which 
high  Calvinism  and  high  Arminianism  may  alike, 
to  all  appearance  at  least,  be  respectively  demon- 
strated from  holy  Scripture  itself. 

1.  Let  us  begin  with  the  former  of  these  con- 
tending theories. 

God  is  an  absolute  sovereign,  and  has  an  un- 
doubted right  to  deal  witli  his  creatures  in  what- 
soever manner  seems  best  to  his  regal  will  and 
pleasure  :  while  every  man,  born  into  this  world, 
is,  by  reason  of  that  original  corruption  which  he 
derives  from  his  first  parents,  in  a  state  of  spirit- 
ual death  or  moral  inability.  These  two  posi- 
tions are  clearly  established  by  the  following 
texts.  In  proof  the  first,  we  may  adduce  this 
explicit  declaration  of  St.  Paul.  It  is  not  of  him 
that  rvilleth,  nor  of  him  that  runneth,  but  of  God 

their  corruption  bitterly  hate :  here  then  we  have  a  defect  in 
moral  free-zvill^  which  can  only  be  remedied  by  divine  grace, 
and  which  without  divine  grace  never  zvill  be  remedied.  But 
we  assuredly  have  it  in  our  own  direct  power  to  obey  a  com- 
mandment, which  either  enjoins  us  to  ask  assistance  from  God, 
or  which  forbids  us  to  commit  murder  ;  for  it  is  mere  con- 
temptible quibbling  to  go  about  to  prove,  that  obedience  is  not 
in  our  own  power  in  these  particulars  :  here  then  we  labour 
under  no  defect  of  natwalfree-xvilL 


368  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

that  sheweth  mercy.  Therefore  hath  he  mercy 
on  whom  he  will  have  mercy .^  and  whom  he  will 
he  har^deneth.  Thou  wilt  say  then  unto  me.,  Why 
doth  he  yet  find  fault ;  for  who  hath  resisted  his 
ivill  ?  May  but,  0  man,  who  art  thou  that  repli- 
est  against  God  ?  Shall  the  thing  formed  say  to 
him  that  formed  it,  why  hast  thou  made  me  thus  f 
Hath  not  the  potter  power  over  the  clay,  of  the 
same  lump  to  make  one  vessel  unto  honour,  and 
another  unto  dishonour  ?  What  if  God,  willing 
to  shew  his  rcrath  and  to  make  his  power  known, 
endured  with  much  long-suffering  the  vessels  of 
wrath  fitted  to  destruction ;  and  that  he  might 
make  known  the  riches  of  his  glory  on  the  vessels 
of  mercy,  which  he  had  afore  prepared  unto 
glory  ?^  In  proof  of  the  second,  we  have  another 
equally  explicit  declaration  of  the  same  apostle. 
You  hath  he  quickened,  who  were  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins. ■\ 

From  these  leading  texts  and  from  others  of 
a  similar  description,  which  represent  God  as  an 
absolute  sovereign  and  man  as  being  spiritually 
dead,  the  Calvinists  with  much  seeming  cogency 
deduce  their  system. 

(1.)  If  any  man  be  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins  ;  then  his  condition  after  the  fall  of  Adam  is 
such,  that  he  cannot  turn  and  prepare  himself,  by 

*  Rom.  ix.  16, 18—23.  f  Ephes.  ii.  1. 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy,       369 

his  own  natural  strength  and  good  works,  to  faith 
and  calling  upon  God  ;*  and,  if  God  be  an  abso- 
lute sovereign  ;  he  has  both  the  right  and  the 
power  to  quicken  those  whom  he  thinks  fit,  and 
to  leave  those  whom  he  thinks  fit  in  a  state  of 
spiritual  death. 

(2.)  But,  if  man  be  unable  to  turn  himself  io 
faith  and  calhng  upon  God,  his  turning  must  de- 
pend upon  some  extrinsic  force  ;  without  which 
he  would  no  more  move  in  the  spiritual  world, 
than  a  dead  body  would  move  in  the  natural 
world.  Now  this  extrinsic  moving  force  is  God : 
for  it  is  written,  Yoii  hath  he  quickened,  who 
were  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  ;  and  It  is  God, 
which  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his 
good  pleasure. ^ 

(3.)  But,  if  extrinsic  force  be  necessary  to 
turn  a  spiritually  dead  soul  to  hohness,  and  if 
that  extrinsic  force  be  God  :  then  every  person, 
who  is  so  turned  to  hoHness,  must  have  been  so 
turned  by  God ;  and,  if  any  person  be  not  so 
turned,  the  reason  must  be,  that  the  extrinsie 
force  of  God  has  not  been  applied  to  him.  For, 
as  no  spiritually  dead  soul  can  turn  without  that 
extrinsic  d?r.d  force ;  and  as  every  spiritually 
dead  soul  to  wliich  it  is  applied  inevitably  must 
turn  (because   the  very  first  operation  of  that 

*  Art.  X.  t  Ephes.  ii.  1.  Philip,  ii.  13. 

Faber,       48 


370        The  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

force  is  to  incline  the  will  ;  and  to  say,  that  a 
man  refuses  to  turn,  when  he  wills  to  turn,  is  a 
self-evident  contradiction)  :  all,  that  do  not  turn, 
can  never  have  experienced  the  application  of 
that  extrinsic  force ;  and  all,  that  do  turn,  must, 
from  the  very  circumstance  of  their  turning, 
have  experienced  its  application. 

(4.)  Now^,  so  far  as  matter  of  fact  is  concern- 
ed, we  find  some  men  turned  to  holiness,  and 
others  not  turned  to  holiness.  But  no  man  can 
turn  himself;  and  every  man,  who  is  acted  upon 
by  the  extrinsic  force  of  God  must  turn.  There- 
fore every  holy  man  has  been  acted  upon  by  the 
extrinsic  force  of  God :  and  every  unholy  man 
has  not  been  so  acted  upon. 

(5.)  But,  if  the  extrinsic  force  of  God  has  acted 
upon  some,  while  it  has  not  acted  upon  others  : 
then  God  must  have  chosen  some  as  the  subjects 
of  his  extrinsic  operation,  while  others  he  has  not 
chosen  as  the  subjects  of  the  same  operation. 

(6.)  His  choice  however  of  these  some  mani- 
festly preceded  their  turning  to  holiness :  because 
they  turned  to  holiness  in  consequence  of  God's 
extrinsic  operation  upon  them  extrinsically  in 
consequence  of  his  having  chosen  them  as  sub- 
jects of  such  operation  while  others  he  did  not 
similarly  choose.  Hence  it  follows,  that  their 
holiness  was  the  consequence  of  God's  choice  of 
them ;  not   God's  choice   of  them,  the  conse- 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy.        371 

quence  of  their  holiness  :  in  other  words,  God's 
choice  was  the  first  operating  cause  of  their  ho- 
liness ;  not  their  holiness,  the  first  operating 
cause  of  God's  choice. 

(7.)  Such  being  the  case,  there  was  no  mov- 
ing cause  in  the  subjects  themselves,  why  some 
should  be  chosen  to  experience  God's  extrinsic 
force,  and  why  others  should  not  be  chosen  to 
experience  it :  for  by  nature  they  were  all 
equally  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins^  and  there- 
fore no  one  of  them  could  have  a  better  claim 
than  another  to  the  beneficial  operation  of  God's 
extrinsic  force. 

(8.)  But,  if  there  was  no  moving  cause  in  the 
subjects  themselves :  then  all,  who  were  chosen, 
must  have  been  chosen  from  God's  mere  will 
and  from  the  sole  arbitrary  exercise  of  his  sove- 
reign pleasure  ;  and  all,  who  were  not  chosen, 
must  have  been  passed  over  exactly  on  the 
same  ground. 

(9.)  If  however  this  be  the  case,  all  the  holy 
are  holy  in  consequence  of  God's  sovereign 
election ;  and  all  the  unholy  remain  unholy  in 
consequence  of  God's  sovereign  preterition. 
For,  had  God  been  pleased  to  operate  upon  the 
latter  in  the  same  manner  as  he  has  operated 
upon  the  former,  the  consequence  must  neces- 
sarily have  been  the  same.  But  the  unholy  re- 
main unholy  j  and  it  is  an  established  point,  that 


372        The  Predestinarian  Controversy, 

they  cannot  turn  themselves  to  holiness.  There- 
fore the  very  cuxumstance  of  their  remaining 
unholy  is  a  proof,  that  God's  extrinsic  force  has 
never  been  applied  to  them  :  because,  had  it 
been  so  appUed,  they  would  have  ceased  to  be 
unholy. 

(10.)  But,  if  the  holy  are  holy  in  consequence 
of  God's  sovereign  election,  and  if  the  unholy 
remain  unholy  in  consequence  of  God's  sove- 
reign pretention  :  then  all  those,  who  have  been 
quickened  out  of  the  mass  of  the  spiritually 
dead,  have  been  arbitrarily  elected  or  chosen 
out  of  that  mass ;  and  all  those  who  have  not 
been  thus  quickened  and  who  therefore  have 
not  been  thus  elected,  must  necessarily  have  been 
passed  over  or  reprobated.*  Hence,  though 
hoUness  and  unholiness  are  to  us  the  only  deci- 
sive marks  of  election  and  reprobation  ;  y^i  ho- 
liness is  neither  the  cause  of  election,  nor  is 
unholiness  the  cause  of  reprobation  ;  for  perma- 
nent holiness  and  permanent  unhohness  are  se- 
verally the  consequences  of  election  and  repro- 
bation, while  election  and  reprobation  them- 
selves depend  not  upon  the  merit  or  demerit  of 

*  I  S2iy  passed  over ^Q^  reprobated ;  for,  however  modern 
Calvinists  may  labour  to  distinguish  between  the  two  terms, 
Calvin  himself  could  see  no  real  difference,  ^os  Deus  prcZ' 
terit,  reprobat. 


The  Predestinarian  Controroersy,        373 

the  subjects  but  upon  the  mere  unrestrained  ex- 
ercise of  God's  absolute  sovereignty. 

(1 1.)  If  then  a  certain  number  out  of  the  mass 
of  the  spiritually  dead  have  been  elected  to  ho- 
liness, and  if  a  certain  number  out  of  the  same 
mass  have  been  reprobatively  left  in  necessary 
unholiness  :  they  must  have  been  so  elected  and 
so  left  for  some  determinate  ends  and  purposes, 
because  God  never  acts  in  vain. 

(12.)  But  we  know,  that  holiness  is  the  ne- 
cessary requisite  for  eternal  happiness,  and  that 
unholiness  is  a  sure  preparation  for  eternal  mi- 
sery. Hence  the  determinate  purposes  of  elec- 
tion and  reprobation  must  be  eternal  happi- 
ness and  eternal  unhappiness. 

(13.)  If  these,  however,  be  their  determined 
purposes  ;  then  the  elect  must  persevere  in  ho- 
liness to  the  end,  and  the  reprobate  in  unholi- 
ness likewise  to  the  end ;  otherwise,  the  elect 
would  not  be  the  elect,  and  the  reprobate  would 
not  be  the  reprobate. 

(14.)  From  the  doctrine  therefore  of  election 
and  reprobation^  necessarily  flows  the  doctrine  of 
the  final  perseverance  of  the  elect  in  holiness  not- 
withstanding their  occasional  lapses,  and  of  the 
fi,nal  perseverance  of  the  reprobate  in  unholiness 
notwithstanding  their  occasional  purposes  of 
amendment. 


37-4        The  Predestinanan  Controversy, 

(15.)  But,  if  God,  by  leaving  a  certain  num- 
ber of  persons  in  unavoidable  unholiness,  has 
thus  predestined  them  to  everlasting  damnation ; 
then  Christ,  who  is  God  as  vs^ell  as  man  and  who 
consequently  shares  in  all  the  divine  purposes, 
can  have  died  only  to  redeem  the  elect :  inas- 
much as  God  does  nothing  in  vain,  and  inasmuch 
as  it  were  nugatory  in  Christ  to  have  shed  his 
blood  for  those  who  were  already  condemned 
by  an  eternal  and  irreversible  decree.  The  doc- 
trine therefore  oi particular  7'edemption^  like  that 
oi final  perseverance,  is  inevitably  deduced  from 
the  doctrine  of  election  and  reprobation, 

2.  Thus  reasons  the  Calvinist  from  premises, 
which  are  doubtless  incontrovertible  :  let  us  next 
hear  the  Arminian. 

Persons  of  his  school  commonly  argue  from 
some  such  text  as  the  following.  Repent.,  and 
turn  yourselves  from  all  your  transgressions ;  so 
iniquity  shall  not  be  your  ruin.  Cast  away  from 
you  all  your  transgressions,  whereby  ye  have 
transgressed  ;  and  make  you  a  new  heart  and  a 
new  spirit:  for  why  will  ye  die,  0  house  of 
Israel  ?^ 

From  these  premises  the  ensuing  train  of  con- 
clusions is,  with  much  apparent  fairness,  very 
logically  deduced. 

*  Ezek.  xviii.  30,  31, 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy.        375 

(1.)  If  all  men  in  general,  without  any  ex- 
ception of  certain  reprobated  particulars,  be 
exhorted  to  turn  themselves  from  their  trans- 
gressions and  to  make  them  a  new  heart  and  a 
new  spirit :  the  necessary  inference  is,  that  all 
men  are  able  to  do  this  ;  for  it  were  plainly  nu- 
gatory to  exhort  them  to  that,  which  they  are 
physically  incapable  of  performing. 

(2.)  But,  if  all  men  are  able  to  do  this  :  then 
all  men  are  placed  by  the  Divinity  upon  an  ex- 
actly equal  footing,  so  far  as  respects  the  moral 
possibility  of  their  final  salvation.  Nor  is  the 
cogency  of  the  argument  in  the  least  affected  by 
the  subordinate  question,  whether  every  man  be 
created  with  an  inherent  power  of  turning  him- 
self to  righteousness,  or  whether  every  man  re- 
ceive this  power  by  a  subsequent  communica- 
tion. For  the  real  jut  of  the  matter  depends, 
not  upon  the  time  when  such  power  was  receiv- 
ed, but  upon  the  universality  of  its  reception. 
Now  a  general  exhortatioh,  without  any  specifi- 
cation of  excluded  particulars^  necessarily  im- 
plies that  the  reception  of  this  power  has  been 
universal. 

(3.)  If  however  the  power  has  been  universal- 
ly received,  and  if  all  men  consequently  have 
been  placed  by  the  Divinity  on  an  equal  footing 
as  to  the  moral  possibility  of  salvation  :  then  no 
such  transactions  can  ever  have  taken  place,  as 


376        The  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

those,  which,  in  their  own  sense  of  the  words, 
the  Calvinists  style  election  and  reprobation.  For 
it  is  plain,  that,  upon  the  predestinarian  scheme, 
all  men  are  not  placed  on  an  equal  footing  as  to 
the  moral  possibility  of  salvation  :  some,  through 
the  medium  of  holiness,  being  elected  to  it  from 
all  eternity  ;  and  others,  through  the  medium  of 
unholiness  which  they  are  left  without  power  of 
correcting,  being  alike  from  all  eternity  necessa- 
rily shut  out  from  the  attainment  of  it. 

(4.)  But,  if  no  such  transactions  as  election 
and  reprobation  ever  took  place ;  then  neither 
can  there  be  any  truth  in  the  doctrines  oi  final 
perseverance  and  jmrticidar  redemption. 

(5.)  The  result  therefore  of  the  whole  is,  that, 
all  men  being  placed  exactly  upon  the  same 
footing  as  to  the  power  of  turning  to  righteous- 
ness and  thence  as  to  the  moral  possibility  of 
salvation ;  all  men,  as  necessarily  implied  by  the 
very  terms  o^^  general  exhortation,  enjoy  a  per- 
fect freedom  of  will.  Hence,  when  life  and 
death,  blessing  and  cursing,  are  set  before  them  : 
they  are  completely  at  liberty  to  choose  either 
the  one  or  the  other.  So  that  their  final  happi- 
ness or  misery  depends  not  upon  any  arbitrary 
election  or  pretention  in  the  divine  counsels,  but 
solely  upon  their  own  voluntary  choice  and  the 
line  of  conduct  adopted  in  consequence  of  such 
a  choice. 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy,        877 

IV.  I  have  now  exhibited  a  Calvinist  and  an 
Arraiaian,  each  arguing  from  indisputable  scrip- 
tural premises  in  favour  of  their  respective  sys- 
tems :  and  I  have  exhibited  them,  as  reasoning 
fairly  so  far  as  regards  their  mutual  theories. 

The  vulgar  abuse  and  grossly  ignorant  mis- 
representations of  Calvinism,  vyrhich  have  dis- 
graced some  controversial  writings,  are  abso- 
lutely beneath  criticism.  Hence  I  represent  a 
candid  Arminian,  as  disdaining  to  resort  to  such 
unseemly  and  dishonest  practices  ;  and  a  well- 
informed  Arminian,  as  distinctly  perceiving  the 
perfectly  hopeless  inutility  of  this  expedient. 
He  does  not  therefore  charge  his  adversary  with 
aiding  and  abetting  immorality  ;  on  the  stale 
plea,  that,  according  to  the  Calvinistic  system,  it 
matters  not  how^  men  live :  for,  let  the  elect  be 
ever  so  wicked,  they  must  inevitably  be  saved  ; 
and,  let  the  reprobate  be  ever  so  pious,  they 
must  inevitably  be  damned.  With  this,  the 
honest  Arminian  charges  not  his  adversary  :  be- 
cause he  knows  full  well,  that  his  adversaiy 
teaches  no  such  monstrous  impiety ;  because  he 
knows  full  well,  that  genuine  Calvinism  main- 
tains, all  God's  people  to  be  elected  to  salvation 
o;^/?/ through  the  medium  of  holiness,  and  all  the 
children  of  the  evil  one  to  be  predestined  to 
damnation  only  through  the  medium  of  unhuli- 
ness.     Neither  does  he  harangue  upon  an  ira- 

Faber.  49 


878        The  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

aginary  ascription  of  injustice  to  God  by  the 
leading  principles  of  the  Calvinistic  theory :  be- 
cause he  is  perfectly  aware,  that  no  case  of  in- 
justice can  possibly  be  made  out  even  on  the 
most  completely  developed  principles  of  that 
theory,  except  by  the  previous  denegation  of 
man's  original  sinfulness ;  because  he  perceives, 
that,  if  all  men  be  acknowledged  to  deserve  pun- 
ishment from  their  very  birth,  no  act  of  injus- 
tice could  be  ascribed  to  God,  on  the  ground  of 
his  extending  to  some  rebels  by  an  exertion  of 
his  sovereign  pleasure  that  mercy  which  he  de- 
nies to  others,^ 

*  Precisely  sucli,  as  it  is  well  remarked  by  Bp.  Horsley,  is 
the  hypothetical  reasoning  of  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles. 
St.  Paul,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Romans,  represents  the  degener- 
acy of  mankind  as  so  great  in  consequence  of  the  fall;  that,  if 
God  had  been  pleased  to  make  an  arbitrary  selectiofi  of  certain 
persons  to  be  admitted  to  mercy  upon  their  repentance,  and  had 
consigned  the  rest  of  the  race  to  the  natural  punishment  of 
their  guilt,  the  proceeding  co2ild  not  have  been  taxed  either 
xvith  cruelty  or  injustice.     Bp.  Horsley's  Serm.   vol.  iv.  p. 
291,  292.     I  see  not,  how  any  one  can  deny  the  conclusions 
of  this  argument,  unless  he  first  deny  the  premises;  namely, 
that  the  degeneracy  of  ntiankind  in  consequence  of  the  fall  is 
such  as  to  DESERVE   punishment.     But,  if  he  deny  this,  he 
will  alike  contradict  Holy  Scripture  and  the  ninth  Article  of 
our  Church,  which  from  Scripture  expressly  teaches  the  doc- 
trine.    Original  sin  standeth  not  in  thefollowi?7g  of  Adam,  as 
the  Pelagians  do  vainly  talk:  but  it  is  the  fault  and  corruption  - 
of  the  nature  of  every  man  that  naturally  is  engendered  of  the 
offspring  of  Adam,  xvhereby  ?nan  is  very  far  Cquam  longissi- 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy,       379 

With  such  arguments  as  these,  if  arguments 
they  can  be  called,  the  wise  and  sober  Arminian 
meddles  not  :  neither  does  the  judicious  and 
temperate  Calvinist  ever  dream  of  charging  his 
opponent  with  a  Pelagian  denegation  of  the  need 
of  divine  grace,  because  he  contends  for  the 
iiniversal  communication  of  that  grace.  On  the 
contrary,  they  each  seek  to  establish  their  own 
system  by  what  they  esteem  legitimate  deduc- 
tions from  holy  Scripture  itself. 

V.  How  then,  with  their  respective  theories 
before  us,  are  we  to  determine  upon  the  truth 
or  falsehood  of  either  ?  How  are  we  to  make 
our  selection  between  the  jarring  systems;  since 
each  is  so  regularly  derived  step  by  step  from 
incontrovertible  premises,  that  it  may  perhaps 
be  impossible  to  point  out  a  single  unfair  de- 
duction ? 

That  there  is  a  fallacy  somewhere,  is  perfectly 
evident  from  the  complete  difference  of  the  re- 
sults: for,   even   setting   Scripture  out  of  the 

me^  as  the  Latin  original  is  more  strongly  expressed)  gone 
from  original  righteousness^  and  is  of  kis  own  nature  inclined 
to  evil;  so  that  the  flesh  lusteth  always  contrary  to  the  Spirit, 
And  therefore^  in  every  person  born  into  this  world^  it  de- 
SERVETH  God^s  WRATH  and  DAMNATION.  If  then  it  de- 
serve God's  wrath  and  damnation,  where  is  the  injustice  of 
INFLICTING  such  a  punishment?  We  plainly  cannot  main- 
tain THE  INJUSTICE,  without  previously  denying  the  desert. 


380        The  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

question,  it  is  manifest  that  both  these  claims  of 
abstract  reasoning  cannot  lead  to  the  truth  ;  be- 
cause they  lead  to  diametrically  opposite  con- 
clusions. We  may  reasonably  therefore  sus- 
pect them  both  :  and  our  suspicion,  that  we  can 
build  very  little  upon  the  most  plausible  abstract 
reasoning  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  around 
theological  system,  will  probably  be  much 
heightened,  if  we  push  each  train  to  its  utmost 
limits  and  observe  the  conclusions  at  which  we 
shall  ultimately  arrive.  I  am  perfectly  aware, 
that  to  these  conclusions  neither  Calvinists  nor 
Arminians  will  subscribe.  But  what  then  ?  If 
we  ?mist  have  our  faith  settled  by  abstract  rea- 
soning, who  is  to  point  out  the  precise  place  be- 
yond which  that  reasoning  is  not  to  be  extend- 
ed ?  What  right  has  the  systematic  Calvinist  to 
stop  at  SLuy particular  link  in  the  07ie  chain:  and 
what  right  has  the  systematic  Arminian  to  stop 
at  any  particular  link  in  tlie  other  chain  ?  If 
systems  innst  be  constructed,  it  is  hard  to  say, 
why  the  conclusions  after  these  Knks  are  not 
respectively  as  valid  as  the  conclusions  befoi^e 
them. 

1.  Let  us  begin  with  oliserving  the  conclu- 
sions, to  w^hich  Calvinism  brings  us,  when  that 
system  is  pushed  to  its  utmost  limits. 

We  have  seen  it  regularly  conduct  us  to  the 
theory,  that,  out  of  the  spiritually  dead  mass  of 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy.       381 

the  human  species,  God  elects  a  certain  number 
to  holiness  and  thence  consecutively  to  eternal 
happiness ;  while  he  reprobates  or  passes  over 
another  certain  number,  who  thence  by  the  de- 
fect of  their  nature  inevitably  remain  in  their 
sins,  and  so  are  at  length  necessarily  consigned 
to  eternal  misery.  Let  us  now  consider,  whi- 
ther this  theory  will  lead  us  :  for,  as  I  have  just 
observed,  a  metaphysical  Calvinist  has  no  right 
to  demand,  that  we  should  stop  at  that  precise 
link  in  the  chain  of  abstract  reasoning,  which 
may  best  suit  his  own  favourite  system, 

(1.)  If  God  elects  some  to  holiness,  while  he 
suffers  others  to  remain  under  an  invincible  ne- 
cessity of  sinning  :  then,  by  a  circle  of  conse- 
quences, God  is  effectively  made  the  author  of  sin. 

(S  J  For,  if  men  are  impelled  to  sin  by  a  fatal 
tendency  of  their  nature  which  they  themselves 
are  wholly  unable  to  correct,  and  if  God  be 
equally  able  to  correct  that  tendency  in  all  as 
well  as  in  some  ;  his  correction  of  it  in  some 
only  and  not  in  all  must  be  the  result  either  of 
his  own  sovereign  will  or  of  the  merit  and  de- 
merit of  the  parties  concerned. 

(3.)  It  is  not  however  the  result  of  the  merit 
and  demerit  of  the  parties  concerned ;  for  both 
the  elect  and  the  reprobate  are  by  nature 
equally  dead  in  sin,  and  therefore  equally  unwor- 


38S       Tlie  Predestinarian  Controversy, 

thy  of  God's  distinguishing  favour  :  hence  it  can 
only  be  the  result  of  God's  own  sovereign  will. 

(4.)  But,  if  the  leaving  certain  men  under  an 
invincible  necessity  of  sinning  be  the  result  of 
God's  own  sovereign  will  :  then  it  must  be  the 
will  of  God,  that  they  should  sin.  For,  if  by  a 
single  act  of  his  almighty  power  he  could  re- 
move the  fatal  tendency  to  sin  in  the  reprobate 
just  as  easily  as  in  the  elect,  if  however  he  do 
not  remove  it,  and  if  the  sole  moving  cause  of 
his  making  such  a  difference  between  the  par- 
ties be  his  own  sovereign  will :  it  is  impossible 
to  avoid  the  inference,  that,  as  he  wills  holiness 
in  the  elect,  so  he  wills  unholiness  in  the  repro- 
bate. 

(5.)  If  then  he  wills  unholiness  in  the  repro- 
bate ;  he  becomes,  by  a  circle  of  consequences, 
the  author  of  evil. 

Such  is  the  first  conclusion,  to  which  we  are 
step  by  step  conducted  :  let  us  next  mark  the 
second. 

(1.)  All  men  being  by  nature  alike  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins,  and  no  one  being  able  by 
any  inherent  strength  of  his  own  to  raise  him- 
self up  from  this  spiritual  death  ;  the  reprobate, 
whom  God  by  his  sovereign  will  suffers  to  re- 
main dead  in  their  sins,  cannot  avoid  thus  re- 
maining dead  in  them  :  that  is  to  say,  it  is  out  of 
their  power  to  cease  committing  sin. 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy.      383 

(S.)  But,  if  it  be  out  of  their  power  to  cease 
committing  sin ;  then  a  tendency  to  commit  sin 
is  just  as  essential  a  part  of  their  nature,  as  gra- 
vitation is  of  the  nature  of  material  substance, 
heat  of  the  nature  of  fire,  and  moisture  of  the 
nature  of  water. 

(3.)  If  however  a  tendency  to  commit  sin  be 
thus  an  essential  part  of  their  nature ;  they  are 
no  more  deserving  of  blame  on  that  account, 
than  material  substance  is  for  gravitating,  fire  for 
burning,  or  water  for  wetting  :  because  they  can 
no  more  divest  themselves  of  this  tendency,  than 
material  substance,  fire,  or  water,  can  respec- 
tively divest  themselves  of  their  several  tenden- 
cies. 

(4.)  But,  if  they  be  no  way  deserving  of  blame 
on  account  of  their  tendency  to  sin,  then  nei- 
ther are  the  elect  deserving  of  praise  on  account 
of  their  tendency  to  virtue :  for  a  tendency  to 
the  one  has  been  made  as  essentially  natural  to 
the  latter,  as  a  tendency  to  the  other  is  by  birth 
essentially  natural  to  the  former. 

[5.)  If  then,  finally,  this  be  the  case ;  virtue 
and  vice  are  mere  names,  and  ought  really  to  be 
considered  in  no  other  light  than  that  of  certain 
irresistible  tendencies  to  particular  objects. 

I  of  course  mean  not  to  say,  that  any  pious 
Calvinist  would  advocate  such  a  farrago  of  absurd 
impieties :  I  am  perfectly  aware,  that  he  would 


384       The  Predestinarian  Cojifroversy, 

reject  it  with  as  much  abhorrence  as  the  most 
zealous  Arminian.  I  would  only  ask,  if  his  sys- 
tem in  all  its  rotundity  is  to  be  established  by  a 
train  of  abstract  reasoning,  what  right  has  he  to 
demand,  that  another  person  should  not  push 
that  train  to  a  greater  length  than  he  finds  it  ex- 
pedient to  do.  I  will  readily  confess,  that  1  can 
detect  no  fallacy  in  ids  train  of  reasoning  so  far 
as  he  carri-es  it :  let  him  try,  if  he  can  detect 
any  fallacy  in  that  train  of  supplemental  reason- 
ing, which  1  have  deduced  from  some  of  his  own 
most  prominent  conclusions.  If  Ijierefore  I  be 
required  to  adopt  the  Calvinistic  system,  be- 
cause I  am  confessedly  unable  to  confute  meta- 
physically the  train  of  abstract  reasoning  upon 
which  it  is  built :  let  the  Calvinist,  if  he  be  una- 
ble to  confute  metaphysically  my  supplemental 
train  of  reasoning,  shew  cause,  why  he  should 
not  be  equally  required  to  adopt  all  the  conclu- 
sions to  which  it  has  conducted  him. 

2.  Let  us  now  similarly  observe  the  conclu- 
sions, to  which  Arminianism  will  bring  us,  when 
that  system  is  pushed  to  its  utmost  limits. 

Its  grand  conclusion  is,  that  all  men  are  placed 
upon  the  same  footing  with  regard  to  a  future 
life  :  for  all  have  equally  received  a  sufficiency 
of  power  from  God  to  turn  from  their  transgres- 
sions and  to  make  them  a  new  heart  and  a  new 
spirit  3  and  all  are  equally  endowed  with  that 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy,      385 

freedom  of  will,  by  which  they  may  choose  mo- 
ral good  and  reject  moral  evil,  or  conversely  by 
which  they  may  choose  moral  evil  and  reject 
moral  good. 

This  seems  very  specious,  when  viewed  su- 
perficially :  yet  it  is  hampered  with  difficulties 
of  no  ordinary  magnitude.  We  are  apt  to  talk 
with  much  complacency  respecting  freedom  of 
will :  but  it  may  be  suspected,  that  we  do  not 
always  form  very  clear  ideas  of  what  we  mean 
by  the  term.  According  to  Scripture,  whatever 
will  we  have  towards  good  is  derived  immedi- 
ately from  God,  our  own  natural  wills  tending 
only  towards  evil :  and  this  inspired  adjudication 
of  the  matter  has  been  wisely  adopted  by  the 
Anglican  Church  into  one  of  her  articles.*  If 
then  a  man  receive  from  God  a  will  towards 
good,  he  of  course  must  will  good :  for  to  say, 
that  he  has  received  a  rvill  towards  good  and  yet 
wills  evil,  is  a  direct  contradiction  in  terms. 
And,  on  the  other  hand,  if  a  man  has  not  receiv- 
ed from  God  a  will  towards  good ;  his  own  will, 
being  naturally  inclined  only  to  evil,  must  doubt- 
less will  evil  continually.  Hence  it  appears, 
that,  if  all  men  are  placed  upon  an  exactly  equal 
footing,  and  if  all  men  have  alike  received  from 

*  2  Corinth,  iii.  5,     Philip,  ii.  13.     Gen.  vi.  5.  viii.  21. 
Psalm  li.  5.     Prov.  xxi.  10.     Art.  x. 

Faber.  60 


SS6        The  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

God  a  will  towards  good :  then  all  men  must 
equally  will  good ;  for  they  cannot  have  alike 
received  a  will  towards  good,  and  then  some  will 
good  and  others  will  evil.  So  far  from  this  be- 
ing the  case,  it  is  evident,  that  they,  who  conti-- 
nually  will  evil,  cannot  have  received  from  God 
a  will  towards  good :  because,  if  they  had  re- 
ceived such  a  will  towards  good,  they  would  ne- 
cessarily cease  to  will  evil ;  for  it  i?  plainly  im- 
possible, that  they  should  will  both  evil  and  good 
at  the  same  time.  The  Arminian,  therefore,  is 
reduced  to  the  following  dilemma.  He  must 
either  acknowledge,  that  a  will  towards  good  is 
not  equally  given  to  all ;  in  which  case  he  at 
once  breaks  in  upon  the  compact  rotundity  of 
his  system :  or  he  must  maintain,  that  all  men 
have  a  self-determining  power  towards  good  or 
evil,  according  to  their  own  free  unbiassed 
choice.  To  say  any  thing  respecting  the  first 
proposition  is  manifestly  superfluous  ;  for,  if  it 
be  adopted,  the  characteristic  difference  between 
the  Calvinistic  and  Arminian  theories  is  imme- 
diately at  an  end:  let  us  observe,  therefore, 
whither  the  second  will  lead  us. 

(l.)  If  all  men  have  a  self-determining  power 
towards  good  or  evil,  so  that  they  can  freely  by 
an  act  of  their  own  volition  choose  the  one  and 
reject  the  other:  then  they  are  able  to  turn 
themselves  from  all  their  transgressions,  and  to 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy.        387 

make  for  themselves  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spi- 
rit. 

(2.)  But,  if  they  can  do  all  this  in  their  own 
strength ;  then  they  have  no  need  of  any  extrin- 
sic assistance  :  for  men  require  assistance  in 
matters  wherein  they  are  deficient,  not  wherein 
they  are  sufficient. 

(3.)  If  however  they  do  not  require  any  ex- 
trinsic  assistance  ;  then  neither  do  they  require 
the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  either  to  turn 
them  from  their  transgressions  or  to  create  in 
them  new  hearts.  For  every  man  is  either  un- 
able to  turn  himself  by  his  own  natural  strength, 
or  else  he  is  able  to  do  it.  If  he  be  unable  ;  then 
he  does  not  possess  that  self-detej^niining  power 
towards  good  or  evil  which  is  contended  for : 
because,  in  that  case,  he  avoidd  be  able.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  he  be  able ;  then  assuredly  he 
has  no  need  of  any  assistance  from  the  Holy 
Spirit :  for,  with  reverence  be  it  spoken,  even 
God  himself  cannot  make  a  man  more  than 
able. 

(4.)  But,  if  the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
be  thus  plainly  superfluous  ;  we  cannot  reason- 
ably expect  to  find  in  Scripture  any  intimations, 
that  he  will  assist  us :  for  the  all-wise  God  would 
not  offer  to  his  creatures  that  which  is  superflu- 
ous to  them,  but  that  which  is  necessary. 


388         The  Fredestinarian  Controversy. 

I  no  more  mean  to  say,  that  such  are  the  te- 
nets of  a  pious  Arminian,  than  that  the  conclu- 
sions which  were  previously  drawn  exhibit  the 
sentiments  of  a  pious  Calvinist.  In  each  case  I 
have  merely  wished  to  shew  the  opinions,  to 
which  the  two  systems  necessarily  conduct  us  if 
they  be  pushed  to  their  utmost  limits.  At  least, 
so  far  as  regular  argumentative  Arminianism  is 
concerned,  if  we  must  build  our  faith  upon  ab- 
stract reasoning,  I  have  brought  the  matter  to  a 
dilemma,  which  offers  only  a  choice  of  evils. 
Hence,  on  the  whole,  it  seems  to  me  abundantly 
evident,  that  mere  abstract  reasoning  from  cer- 
tain undeniable  premises,  whether  employed  on 
the  side  of  Calvinism  or  Arminianism,  however 
plausible  it  may  appear  on  the  first  point  of  view, 
is  not  the  method  appointed  of  God  for  the  es- 
tabhshment  of  solid  articles  of  belief. 

VI.  It  has  been  asserted,  that  Calvinism  is  a 
machine  so  constructed,  that,  a  single  peg  being 
drawn  out,  the  whole  falls  to  pieces.  If  this  as- 
sertion rest  upon  any  sohd  foundation,  it  is  appli- 
cable to  systematic  Arminianism  or  indeed  to 
any  other  system  founded  upon  only  a  partial 
survey  of  Scripture,  no  less  than  to  systematio 
Calvinism.  At  the  same  time  I  much  doubt  the 
safety  of  applying  such  a  method  of  arguing  to 
confute  the  errors  of  any  scheme  of  belief.  It 
is  a  dangerous  instrument :  and,  wjiile  employed. 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy,       389 

as  it  has  been,  in  tearing  away  the  tags  and  tas- 
sels of  Calvinism  (for  the  Genevan  reformer,  as 
well  as  the  lordly  successor  of  St.  Peter,  has  con- 
tributed but  too  largely  to  the  embellishment  of 
the  Christian  garment),  it  may  perchance  injure 
the  coat  itself.  One  of  the  pegs  of  Calvinism, 
the  peg  indeed  upon  which  all  the  others  de- 
pend, is  a  text  of  Scripture  :  and  the  same  re- 
mark may  be  applied  to  Arminianism.  Now, 
if  the  dislocation  of  one  peg  involve  the  disloca- 
tion of  another^  and  if  all  must  be  thrown  aside 
because  some  have  been  extracted  as  manifestly 
faulty  ;  it  will  plainly  appear  by  inverting  the  two 
preceding  trains  of  argument,  that  the  two  last 
unsound  pegs  in  each  are  even  two  texts  of 
Scripture.  So  that  if  all  must  be  rejected  be- 
cause some  prove  to  be  faulty,  the  inevitable 
consequence  will  be,  that  one  half  of  the  Bible 
must  be  discarded,  because  it  apparently  gives 
countenance  to  the  errors  which  necessarily 
flow  from  higli  Calvinism ;  and  that  the  other 
half  must  experience  the  same  fate,  because  it 
in  like  manner  apparently  gives  countenance  to 
the  errors  which  necessarily  flow  from  over- 
strained Arminianism.  Some  other  method 
therefore  of  confuting  falsehood  must  be  dis- 
covered :  and  I  am  acquainted  with  none  more 
safe  and  more  simple,  than  that  which  is  built 
upon  the  following  plain  canon : 


390       The  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

ADMIT  NO  CONCLUSION  IN  ANY  SYSTEM  TO 
BE  VALID,  UNLESS  THE  CONCLUSION  ITSELF, 
AS  WELL  AS  THE  THESIS,  FROM  WHICH  IT  IS 
DEDUCED,  BE  EXPLICITLY  SET  FORTH  IN  HOLY 
SCRIPTURE. 

This  rule  comprizes  the  substance  of  the  apos- 
tolic injunction  to  prove  all  things,  and  to  hold 
fast  that  which  is  good.  It  is  also  equivalent  to 
two  very  wise  declarations  of  the  Anglican 
Church ;  that,  whatsoever  is  not  read  in  Scrip- 
ture, nor  ?nay  be  proved  thereby,  is  not  to  be  re- 
quired of  any  man,  that  it  should  be  believed  as  an 
article  of  the  Faith  or  be  thought  necessary  to 
salvation  /  and  that  we  must  receive  God'>s  pro- 
mises in  such  wise,  as  they  be  generally  set  forth 
to  us  in  Holy  Scripture,^ 

In  order  that  the  use  of  our  canon  may  the 
more  evidently  appear,  let  us  compare  the  two 
preceding  chains  of  abstract  reasoning  with  the 
Bible :  and  I  trust,  that  the  vanity  of  building 
compact  theological  systems,  and  the  folly  of 
bitterly  contending  for  such  mere  creatures  of 
fallacious  argumentation,  will  thence  be  suffi- 
ciently manifest. 

I.  I  shall  begin  with  noticing  certain  links  in 
the  Calvinistic  chain. 

*  Art.  vi.  and  xvii» 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy,        391 

(1.)  It  is  argued,  that  God  imparts  to  some  the 
power  of  turning  to  holiness  and  of  thence  at- 
taining to  eternal  life,  while  he  withholds  this 
power  from  others  and  thence  necessarily  des- 
tines them  to  eternal  misery.* 

Now  it  is  impossible  to  deny,  that  this  con- 
clusion is  equivalent  to  asserting,  that  God  wills 
the  salvation  of  some  and  the  danwiation  of 
others. 

But  what  says  the  Supreme  Being  of  himself, 
as  if  thinking  foul  scorn  of  a  specious  conclu- 
sion drawn  by  erring  man  ?  /  have  no  pleasure 
in  the  death  of  him  that  dieth.-[  Jls  Ilive^  I  have 
NO  PLEASURE  tu  the  death  of  the  wicked :  but  that 
the  wicked  shoidd  turn  from  his  way,  and  live.X 
And  what  does  an  inspired  writer  declare  re- 
specting the  Omnipotent  ?  The  Lord  is  long- 
suffering  to  us  ward,  not  willing  that  any 
should  perish,  hid  that  all  should  come  to  repent 
ance.^ 

(2.)  If  then  God  has  no  pleasure  in  the  death 
of  the  wicked,  and  if  he  be  not  willing  that 
any  should  perish  but  thatALL  should  come  to  re- 
pentance ;  how  is  it  possible,  that  the  Cahlnistic 
doctrine  oi  Election  and  Reprobation  should  be 
well  founded  ?|| 

*  Conclusions  (2.),  (3.),  aiid  (4.)     f  Ezek.  xviii.  32. 
:|:  Ezek.  xxxiii.  11.  §  2  Peter  iii.  9. 

II  Conclusions  (5.)— (12.) 


S92         The  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

The  question,  be  it  observed,  does  not  at  all 
regard  the  matter  of  fact  that  some  will  hereafter 
be  saved  and  that  others  will  perish :  it  solely 
regards  the  tvill  or  pleasure  or  mental  disposition 
of  God  towards  his  rational  creatures.  Now,  on 
the  Calvinistic  scheme,  the  Election  or  Repro- 
bation of  these  or  those  rests  entirely  on  the 
sovereign  will  of  God.  If  therefore  such  be 
the  case ;  with  what  truth  can  it  be  said,  that 
God  has  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked, 
and  that  he  willeth  not  that  any  should  pe- 
rish but  that  ALL  should  come  to  repentance  ? 
The  Calvinistic  theory  exhibits  God,  as  leaving 
a  certain  number  of  men  in  unavoidable  unho- 
liness  and  thence  under  the  necessary  doom  of 
everlasting  misery,  simply  because  he  wills 

IT  or  BECAUSE  HE  HAS  PLEASURE  IN  THIS  AR- 
RANGEMENT :  Scripture  declares,  that  he  does 
NOT  WILL  the  death  of  any,  and  that  he  has  no 
PLEASURE  in  the  death  of  the  wicked.  But  these 
two  propositions  manifestly  stand  in  direct  op- 
position to  each  other.  Hence  it  is  impossible, 
that  they  should  both  be  true. 

I  am  fully  aw^are  that  a  Calvinist  will  urge, 
that  God  indeed  has  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of 
the  wicked,  neither  does  he  will  that  any  should 
perish  ;  but  that  the  bad  suffer  merely  by  the 
immutable  laws  of  a  just  government,  and  that 
God  however  reluctant  (to  speak  after  the  man- 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy,         393 

ner  of  men)  lies  under  a  moral  necessity  of  in- 
flicting merited  punishment. 

This  is  the  only  answer  that  can  be  given  : 
and  it  is  evidently  quite  wide  of  the  mark.  It 
applies  exclusively  to  a  supposed  case,  that  all 
may  be  holy  if  they  choose,  and  that  no  advantages 
are  given  to  one  rather  than  to  another.  Thus  a 
king  may  find  himself  morally  compelled  to  pu- 
nish a  traitorous  friend,  though  he  neither  wills 
his  death  nor  has  any  pleasure  in  it.  But,  if  that 
king  knew  that  his  friend  had  a  physical  propen- 
sity to  treason,  if  he  possessed  the  power  of 
completely  altering  such  a  propensity,  and  if 
merely  from  his  sovereign  will  and  pleasure  he 
did  not  alter  it  though  he  foresaw  that  the  un- 
corrected propensity  would  inevitably  lead  to 
the  man's  death :  in  that  case,  how  could  it  be 
said  with  truth,  that  the  king  indeed  neither 
willed  nor  had  pleasure  in  the  man's  death,  but 
that  with  much  reluctance  and  heart-felt  grief  he 
found  himself  morally  compelled  to  suffer  the 
laws  to  take  their  course  ?  Now  it  is  precisely 
under  such  an  aspect,  that  the  Calvinistic  doc- 
trine of  Reprobation  or  Preterition  represents  the 
Supreme  Being.  Any  one  therefore  may  per- 
ceive at  a  single  glance,  that  the  attempted  an- 
swer is  perfectly  irrelevant  to  a  case  of  this  des- 
cription. If  God  from  all  eternity  has  doomed 
a  person  to  destruction  by  the  mere  act  of  his 

Faber.  5 1 


394       The  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

sovereign  will  :  it  is  a  palpable  contradiction  to 
say,  that  he  does  not  will  his  destruction  nei- 
ther has  any  pleasure  in  it,  but  that  he  lies  with 
whatever  reluctance  under  a  moral  necessity  of 
inflicting  punishment.  The  answer  in  no  res- 
pect meets  the  alleged  case. 

With  regard  to  the  much  agitated  doctrine  of 
Election,  it  is  far  more  easy  to  cite  texts  where- 
in the  term  is  contained,  than  to  ascertain  the 
precise  import  of  that  term  :  yet,  till  this  be 
done,  no  opinion,  either  Calvinistic  or  Arminian, 
can  be  reasonably  and  decisively  established  as 
truth.  It  is  perhaps  impossible,  with  such  li- 
mited faculties  as  ours,  exactly  to  draw  the 
line  between  Divine  Prescience  and  Divine  De- 
crees. We  find  it  difficult  to  conceive,  how 
God  foresees  a  matter,  unless  that  matter  neces- 
sarily  come  to  pass :  yet  tliere  are  various  in- 
stances, in  which  he  can  scarcely  be  said  to 
\\2i\G  fated  the  actors,  though  \\q  foresaw  the,  act. 
The  conduct  of  the  Roman  soldiers,  during  the 
crucifixion,  is  a  case  in  point :  and  indeed  every 
instance  of  an  accomplished  prophecy  might  be 
similarly  adduced.  I  doubt,  whether  it  be  safe 
to  define  the  elect  or  the  predestinate  in  any 
other  manner,  than  the  really  or  apparently  pious. 
Thus  St.  Peter  addresses  the  Church  at  large  as 
^  congregation  of  elect  persons,  though  contain- 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy.        395 

ing  many  unwortliy  members  :*  and  thus,  on 
the  other  hand,  St.  Paul  shews  us  the  primary 
and  (if  I  may  use  the  expression)  esoterical 
meaning  of  the  word  predestinate,  by  confining  it 
to  the  really  pious,  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles ; 
because  he  describes  the  persons,  whom  he 
terms  predestinate,  as  loving  God  here  and  as 
being  finally  glorified  hereafter.f  The  Church 
of  England,  not  daring  to  be  wise  above  wliat  is 
written,  has  closely  copied  Scripture  in  the  use 
which  she  makes  of  the  terms  elect  and  predes- 
tinate. Thus  ererz/ catechumen  is  taught  to  be- 
lieve in  God  the  Holy  Ghost  who  sanctifieth  him 
and  all  the  elect  people  of  God ;  and  thus  the 
officiating  minister  is  directed  to  pray,  that  every 
child  about  to  be  baptized  may  remain  in  the 
number  of  God^s  faithful  and  elect  children: 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  seventeenth  Ar- 
ticle describes  indeed  none  but  the  truly  pious ; 
yet,  however,  it  may  appear  to  lean  to  the  pre- 
destinarian theory,  on  a  more  close  examination 
it  will  be  found  to  describe  them  so  reverendly 
and  cautiously  in  almost  the  very  words  of  Scrip- 
ture, guarding  against  all  abuse  and  misappre- 
hension of  the  doctrine,  and  anxiously  warning 
us  to  receive  God's  promises  and  to  perform 
God's  will  ojily  as  declared  in  his  word,  that  no 

*  1  Peter  v.  13.  f  Rom.  viii.  28 — 30. 


396        The  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

person,  whether  Calvinist  or  Arminian,  can 
refuse  subscription  to  it,  unless  he  at  the  same 
time  refuse  subscription  to  the  Bible  itself.* 
Why  the  pious  are  termed  elect  or  predestinate^ 
it  becomes  not  us  too  curiously  to  inquire.  I 
fear  to  admit  the  strict  Calvinistic  definition  of 
Election  ;  not  merely  however  because  it  may 
happen  to  miUtate  against  my  own  notions,  but 
because  I  doubt  whether  it  accords  with  the  pro- 
mises of  God  as  they  are  generally  set  forth  in 
Scripture.  The  following  is  the  manner,  in 
which  I  would  bring  my  objections  into  some- 
thing of  a  regular  form. 

*  Let  any  person  compare  the  seventeenth  Article  with 
Rom.  viii.  28,  29,  30.  Ephes.  i.  4.  and  1  Peter  i.  2  ;  and  he 
will  find  the  description,  which  our  reformers  give  of  the  pre- 
destinate, couched  pretty  nearly  in  the  same  terms  as  those 
which  the  apostles  use.  If  a  Calvinist  then  will  confine  his 
definition  of  Electioji  to  scriptural  language,  I  can  readily  sub- 
scribe to  it ;  though  possibly  he  and  I  may  not  annex  precise- 
ly the  same  meaning  to  that  language.  For,  be  it  observed,  it 
is  one  thing  to  submit  myself  to  a  declaration  of  Scripture, 
which  declaration  I  at  the  same  time  very  imperfectly  under- 
stand ;  and  quite  another  thing  to  subscribe  implicitly  to  the 
explanatio7i  of  such  a  declaration,  whether  provided  by  a  Cal- 
vinist or  an  Arminian.  Could  it  be  once  indisputably  shewn, 
that  Calvinism  is  the  unadulterated  doctrine  of  the  Bible ;  I 
should  hold  myself  obliged  to  embrace  it,  however  contrary  it 
might  be  to  my  own  preconceived  opinions,  because  the  Bible 
is  the  word  of  God :  but,  until  that  can  be  done,  I  think  it 
more  safe  to  admit  no  conclusion  whatsoever,  unless  I  have 
the  express  wai'rant  of  Scripture  for  so  doing. 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy,        397 

In  the  first  place  then,  I  find,  that  St.  Peter 
directs  us  to  give  all  diligence  to  make  our  call- 
ing and  election  sure*  But,  upon  the  Calvinis- 
tic  scheme,  it  is  sure  already.  Consequently, 
no  man  cafi  make  a  Calvinistic  Election  in  the 
least  degree  either  more  sure  or  less  sure,  than 
it  was  long  before  he  was  born.f 

In  the  second  place,  I  cannot  find  in  Scripture 
any  definite  mention  of  Reprobation,  which  is  the 
necessary  correlative  of  Calvinistic  Election. 

I  allow  indeed,  that  there  are  a  few  texts, 
which  on  a  superficial  view  appear  to  lean  to- 
wards that  doctrine.  Such,  for  instance,  are  the 
following. 

There  are  certain  men  crept  in  unawares^  who 
were  before  of  old  ordained  to  this  condem- 

NATION.J 

*  2  Peter  i.  10. 
f  I  am  aware,  that  a  Calvinist  would  say,  that  the  means  are 
predestined,  as  well  as  the  end  ;  and  that  St.  Peter's  exhorta- 
tion was  written  only  with  a  view  to  make  us  more  diligent  in 
using  those  means.  But  the  difficulty  still  remains,  or  is  ra- 
ther indeed  increased.  For,  if  the  means  be  predestined,  it  is 
superfluous  to  recommend  diligence  in  the  use  of  those 
means  :  because  it  is  already  out  of  our  power  to  refrain  from 
diligence  in  the  use  of  them.  Should  it  be  answered,  that  ex- 
hortation itself  is  one  of  the  predestined  means  of  holiness  ;  I 
can  only  reply,  that  we  may  run  on  ad  injimtum  through  a 
series  of  such  predestined  means  as  those.  An  infinite  series 
of  predestined  means  differs  only  in  name  from  absolute  fatal- 
ism. 

\  Jude  4, 


398        The  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

God  endureth  with  much  long  suffering  the  ves- 
sels of  wrath  fitted  to  destruction.* 

The  sto?ie,  which  the  huilders  disallowed^  the 
same  is  made  the  head  of  the  corner,  and  a  stone 
of  stumblings  and  a  rock  of  offence.^  even  to  them 
which  stumble  at  the  word,  being  disobedient  : 

WHEREUNTO  ALSO  THEY  WERE  APPOINTED.f 

With  regard  however  to  the  first  of  these  pas- 
sages, it  is  capable  of  a  different  translation : 
There  are  certain  men,  who  were  long  since  pro- 
phetically described,X  as  meet  for  this  condemna- 
tion. 

With  regard  to  tlie  second,  the  past  particple 
used  in  it  §  is  capable  of  a  reflex,  no  less  than  of 
a  passive,  signification.  Whence  it  may  be  ren- 
dered^^M  by  themselves  or  meet  for  destruction. 

And,  with  regard  to  the  third,  the  expression, 
whereunto  also  they  were  appointed,  refers,  not 
to  their  being  disobedient,  but  to  the  punish7nent 
which  they  were  about  to  incur  in  consequence 
of  their  disobedience.  The  Apostle  had  ob- 
served, that  Christ  was  precious  to  those  who 
believed ;  but  that  he  was  a  stone  of  stumbling 
to  the  disobedient.  The  reason,  why  he  was  a 
stone  of  stumbling  to  them,  was  their  disobedi- 
ence, not  surely  a  decree  of  Reprobation ;  precise- 

*  Rom.  ix.  22.  f  1  Peter  ii.  7, 8. 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy.       899 

ly  in  the  same  manner  as  a  knowledge  of  Christ's 
doctrine  is  promised  to  obedience.*  In  conse- 
quence therefore  of  their  disobedience,  they 
were  appointed  to  convert  even  the  Saviour  him- 
self into  a  rock  of  offence.  Their  disobedience 
then  was  the  fault :  their  making  Christ  a  stmn- 
Uing  stone  was  the  punishment,  to  which  they 
were  appointed.  Should  this  mode  of  interpre- 
tation be  deemed  less  admissible,  the  words, 
even  with  a  Calvinistic  reference,  may  easily  be 
explained  on  the  principle  of  a  well  known  He- 
braism :  namely,  God  is  frequently  said  to  do^ 
what  he  either  foresees  will  be  done,  or  what  he 
permits  a  wicked  man  to  do  after  the  Divine 
Spirit  has  long  striven  with  him  in  vain.  Thus, 
when  the  Lord  is  said  to  have  hardened  Pharaoh'>s 
heart,f  we  might  be  apt  to  think  that  the  Egypt- 
ian prince  was  reprobated  by  a  divine  decree, 
did  we  not  find  that  he  is  also  described  as  har- 
dening his  own  heart.X  The  fact  seems  to  be 
this.  The  incorrigible  spirit  of  Pharaoh  pro- 
voked the  Lord  to  withdraw  himself  from  him, 
as  in  after  time  he  did  from  Saul:  the  conse- 
quence of  which  was,  that  his  heart  became 
more  and  more  hard.  To  compare  natural 
things  with  spiritual,   as  we  are  taught  to  do 

*  John  vii.  17.  f  Exod.  vil.  13. 

i  Exod.  viii.  15.     1  Sam.  vi.  6. 


400       The  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

throughout  the  whole  of  Scripture,  wlien  the 
Sun  withdraws  its  heat  from  water,  water  har- 
dens into  ice  :  but,  ahhough  the  Sun  be  in  one 
sense  the  occasion  of  winter,  yet  it  cannot  hter- 
ally  be  deemed  the  cause  of  frost.  The  conse- 
quential cause  it  may  indeed  be  termed,  but  sure- 
ly not  the  efficient  cause.  In  a  similar  manner, 
when  God  commands  his  prophet  to  make  the 
heart  of  the  Israelites  fat^  and  to  make  their  ears 
heavy,  and  to  shut  their  eyes;  lest  they  see  with 
their  eyes,  and  hear  with  their  ears,  and  under- 
stand xvith  their  heart,  and  convert,  and  he  heal- 
ed ;*  we  cannot  reasonably  infer,  either  that  the 
prophet  possessed  any  power  of  hardening  their 
hearts,  or  that  God  designed  to  make  him  his 
instrument  for  that  purpose  :  on  the  contrary, 
the  passage  is  obviously  nothing  mor'e  than  a 
prediction.  Accordingly,  since  St.  Paul,  when 
quoting  this  very  text,  does  not  confine  himself 
to  the  precise  words  of  the  original,  he  must  be 
understood  to  give  us,  upon  inspired  authority, 
the  true  interpretation  of  it.  The  heart  of  this 
people  IS  waxed  gross,  and  their  ears  are  dull  of 
hearing,  and  their  eyes  have  they  closed  (they 
THEMSELVES,  cvcn  as  Pharaoh  hardened  his 
own  heart :)  lest  they  should  see  with  their  eyes, 
and  hear  with  their  ears,  and  understand  with 

*  Isaiah  vi.  10. 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy.       401 

their  hearty  and  shoidd  be  converted,  and  I  shoidd 
heal  them.^ 

To  these  remarks  may  be  added,  what  equally 
applies  to  all  the  three  texts,  that,  if  they  be  un- 
derstood as  inculcating  a  Calvinistic  Reproba- 
tion, they  do  not  accord  with  God's  promises  as 
they  QXQ  generally  ?>Qi  forth  to  us  in  Holy  Scrip- 
ture. 

(3.)  From  the  doctrine  of  Election,  as  under- 
stood by  the  Predestinarians,  necessarily  flows, 
as  they  rightly  argue,  the  doctrine  of  Final  Per- 
sever a?ice.-\-  Let  us  see  however,  apart  from 
abstract  reasoning,  what  the  Bible  teaches  on 
this  point.  - 

When  a  righteous  man  turneth  away  from  his 
righteousness,  and  committeth  iniquity.,  and  dieth 
in  them ;  for  his  iniquity  that  he  hath  done  shall  he 
die.  And  again,  when  the  wicked  man  turneth 
away  from  his  wickedness  that  he  hath  committed, 
and  doeth  that  which  is  lawfid  and  right ;  he  shall 
save  his  soid  alive. % 

These  words  speak  so  plainly,  that  the  only 
answer  which  a  Calvinist  can  give,  and  which  I 
believe  he  commonly  does  give,  is  this  :  that  the 
righteous  man,  here  mentioned,  is  not  a  truly 
righteous  man,  but  one  who  for  a  season  ap^ 


*  Acts  xvlii.  27.  f  Conclusions  (13.)  and  (14.) 

\  Ezek.  xviii.  26,  27. 

Faber,       52 


40a        The  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

pears  before  his  neighbours  to  be  righteous  ; 
so  that  in  fact  his  falling  away  is  no  real  apos- 
tacy. 

Now  I  will  be  bold  to  say,  that  such  a  reply 
riot  only  violates  every  principle  of  legitimate 
criticism,  but  also  bids  defiance  to  the  whole 
context  of  the  passage  itself 

When  in  the  same  sentence  two  words  are 
manifestly  used  antithetically^  genuine  criticism 
imperiously  requires  us  to  understand  them  ho- 
mogeneously.  In  the  present  sentence  then  a 
righteous  man  is  plainly  mentioned  in  studious 
opposition  to  a  wicked  man  ;  and  the  turning  of 
the  former  from  righteousness  is  no  less  plainly 
contrasted  with  the  turning  of  the  latter  from 
wickedness.  Hence,  i{the  righteous  man  be  only 
an  apparently  righteous  man,  then  the  ivicked 
man  must  be  only  an  apparently  wicked  man  : 
and,  if  the  righteousness  from  which  the  former 
turns  be  only  an  apparent  righteousness,  then 
the  wickedness  from  which  the  latter  turns  must 
be  only  an  apparent  wickedness.  For,  unless 
this  be  allowed,  we  have  no  antithesis  whatso- 
ever :  the  pretended  righteous  man  having  been 
all  the  while  a  wicked  man,  while  the  really 
wicked  man  has  become  a  truly  righteous  man. 
In  short,  according  to  the  Calvinistic  gloss,  the 
argument  of  the  Lord  (for  the  words  are  the 
words  of  Jehovah  himself)  will  run  as  follows  : 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy.      403 

When  a  wicked  man.  who  has  played  the  hypo- 
crite by  an  oidward  simulation  of  righteousness^ 
ceases  to  play  the  hypocrite  ;  for  the  iniquity^ 
which  he  has  done  in  thus  ceasing  to  play  the  hy- 
pocrite^ shall  he  die :  and  again^  when  a  wicked 
man  really  turns  away  from  his  wickedness  and 
becomes  a  genuine  spiritual  servant  of  God  ;  he 
shall  save  his  soul  alive.    Who  does  not  at  once 
perceive,  that  this  is  any  thing  rather  than  the 
true  meaning  of  the  passage  ?     Yet  it  is  only  by 
ascribing  to  it  an  import  so  strangely  incongru- 
ous, that  the  advocate  for  Final  Perseverance 
can  elude  its  force.     The  wicked  man,  I  need 
scarcely  say,  is  a  really  wicked  man.     But,  if 
this  be  the  case,  then  the  righteous  man  must  be 
a  truly  righteous  man.     Yet  are  we  taught  by 
Jehovah  himself,  in  direct  opposition  to  the  Cal- 
vinistic  inference,  that  this  truly  righteous  man 
may  deflect  from  his  righteousness,  and  may 
consequently  perish  in  his  sins. 

But  the  reply  before  us  equally  bids  defiance 
to  the  whole  context  of  the  passage.  The  right- 
eous  man  mentioned  in  the  passage  is  evidently 
a  character  of  the  very  same  description,  as  the 
just  man  respecting  whom  the  Lord  had  recent- 
ly been  speaking.  Now  this  just  man  is  deline- 
ated, as  a  person  who  does  that  which  is  lawful 
and  right^  and  who  in  consequence  shall  surely 


404        The  Predestinarian  ConU'oversy. 

live.^  The  just  man  therefore  is  2i  really ']\\sX 
man  :  for,  were  he  a  mere  hypocrite,  eternal 
life  could  not  possibly  be  his  final  lot.  T\\\?,just 
man  however  is  a  character  of  the  same  de- 
scription as  the  righteous  man  afterwards  men- 
tioned. Therefore  that  righteous  man  is  for  a 
season  truly  righteous,  though  he  at  length  un- 
happily falls  away  from  his  righteousness  and  be- 
comes a  truly  wicked  man. 

(4.)  The  doctrine  of  reprobation  inevitably 
produces  the  doctrine  of  particular  redemption  ; 
or  the  tenet,  that  Christ  died  solely  for  the  elect, 
and  that  the  reprobate  were  never  included  in 
the  contemplation  of  the  divine  mercy  .f 

But  to  this  conclusion  what  says  the  Bible  ? 
There  is  one  God,  and  one  mediator  between  God 
and  ma?i,  the  man  Jesus  Christ;  who  gave  him- 
self a  ransom  for  all.J  We  thus  judge,  that,  if 
one  died  for  all,  then  were  all  dead;  a?id  that 
he  died  for  all,  that  they  which  live  should  not 
henceforth  live  to  themselves,  but  unto  him  which 
died  for  them  and  rose  again,^ 

Here  it  is  positively  set  forth,  that  Christ  died, 
not  for  the  elect  exclusively,  but  for  all.  If 
then  Christ  died  for  all  and  gave  himself  a  ran- 

*  Ezek.  xviii.  5,  9.  f  Conclusion  (15*) 

\  1  Tinv  ii.  5.  6,  §  2  Corin.  v,  14,  15. 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy,        405 

som  for  ALL ;  it  certainly  cannot  be  said  with 
truth,  that  he  died  solely  for  the  elect. 

I  know,  that  the  Calvinists  attempt  to  get  rid 
of  those  texts,  which  assert  the  universahty  of 
the  atonement,  by  maintaining,  that  the  words 
ALL  and  WORLD  are  to  be  understood,  not  in  a 
general,  but  in  a  restrictive,  sense  :  the  term  all 
denoting,  not  all  men,  but  all  the  elect ;  and  the 
term  world  denoting,  not  the  whole  world  of 
mankind,  but  tJie  whole  world  of  the  elect. 

Now  here  we  perceive  men,  however  strong 
they  may  be  as  metaphysical  reasoners,  labour- 
ing under   difficulties  from  which  they   vainly 
attempt    to   extricate   themselves  ;    difficulties 
brought  upon  them  by  the  mere  corrective  in- 
terposition of  Scripture.     Who  for  one  moment 
can  tolerate  such  palpable  legerdemain  as  this  ? 
By  a  similar  process,  the  Bible  may  be  made  to 
speak,  not  what  any  man  of  plain  sound  under- 
standing would  conceive  it  to  speak,  but  just 
what  the  contriver  of  a  system  would  have  it : 
and,  if  we  concede  to  the  Calvinist,  that,  when 
Christ  is  said  to  die  for  all,  the  apostle  meant  to 
teach  the  esoteric  doctrine  of  his  dying  only  for 
ALL  THE  ELECT  J  I  scc  not  how  wc  Can  fairly 
object  to  tlie  most  unnatural  glosses  of  the  pre- 
judging and  system-loving  Socinian,  for  it  is  hard 
to  say  whether  the  gloss  of  the  one  or  of  the  other 


406       The  Predestinarian  Controversy, 

be  the  furthest  removed  from  the  obvious  mean- 
ing of  Scripture. 

Granting  however  for  a  moment  all  that  the 
Calvinist  would  have  us  grant,  acknowledging 
for  the  sake  of  ai-gument  the  propriety  of  one  of 
the  most  purpose-serving  glosses  that  was  exco- 
gitated ;  we  may  still  without  difficulty  produce 
texts,  which  cannot  thus  be  explained  away. 

If  any  man  sin^  we  have  an  advocate  with  the 
Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous :  and  he  is  the 
propitiation  for  our  sins ;  a?id  not  for  ours  only, 
but  also  for  the  sins  of  tub  whole  world.* 

God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.f 

In  both  these  passages,  the  world  at  large  is 
placed  in  evident  contradistinction  to  believing 
Christians  or  (in  the  Calvinistic  phraseology) 
the  elect,  Christ,  says  St.  John,  is  the  propitia- 
tion,  not  only  for  our  sins,  for  the  sins  of\js  be- 
lievers ;  btit  likewise  for  the  sins  ©/"the  whole 
WORLD  at  large.  Read  this  passage  however 
with  the  Cavinistic  gloss,  and  it  will  exhibit  the 
following  extraordinary  declaration.  Chiist  is 
the  propitiation,  not  only  for  the  sins  of  the  elect, 
but  likewise  additionally  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
WORLD  OF  the  ELECT.  So  again :  God,  says  the 

*  1  John  ii.  1,  2.  f  John  iii.  16. 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy.      407 

same  apostle,  so  loved  the  world  in  general^ 
that  he  gave  his  only-begotten  Son,  that  whosoever 
OUT  OF  that  world  believeth  in  him  should  not 
perish.     But  read  this  passage  with  a  Calvinistic 
comment,  and  its  language  will  be  no  less  ex- 
traordinary than  that  of  the  last.     God  so  loved 
THE  WORL.D  OF  THE  ELECT,  that  he  gave  his  Son, 
that  whosoever  out  of  that  elect  world  believ- 
eth in  him  shoidd  not  perish;  those  only  being 
doomed  to  perish,  who  out  of  that  same  elect 
world  shall  HOT  believe  in  him  :  in  other  words, 
God  loved  indeed  the  whole  world  of  the 
elect  ;  but  none  o/* those  elect,  willbe  finally 
saved,  except  such  of  the  elect  as  believe,  all 
ELECT  unbelievers  being  doomed  to  utter  ruin. 
Thus  we  see,  that,  in  spite  of  the  abstract  rea- 
soning   of   the    metaphysical    predestinarians, 
Scripture  declares,  that  God  mercifully  loved  the 
whole  world  of  mankind,  and  that  Christ   has 
made  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  same  uni- 
versal world.     Such  being  the  case,  if  God  and 
his  Christ  so  loved  the  universal  world ;  it  is  a 
contradiction  in  terms  to  say,  that  many  indi- 
viduals of  that  world  have  been  left  by  the  so- 
vereign divine  will  under  a  fatal  necessity   of 
perishing,  when  the  same  sovereign  divine  will 
might  have  freely  elected  them  to  eternal  life  : 
for,  according  to  this  theory,  as  the  Calvinists 
indeed  themselves  acknowledge,  God  assured- 


408        The  Predestinarian  Controversy, 

\y  loves  only  the  elect,  and  does  not  love  the  re- 
probate. 

Every  scriptural  expostulation  speaks  exact- 
ly to  the  same  purpose.     When  God  remon- 
strates with  mankind  on  the  ground  that  they 
refuse  to  turn  from  the  evil  of  their  ways ;  such 
a  remonstrance  necessarily  implies,  that  he  is 
ready  to  give  them  all  due  assistance ;  for  (to 
speak  with  reverence)  it  were  surely  altogether 
nugatory  to  ask  them,  why  they  still  persist  in 
wickedness  and  why  they  are  determined  not  to 
relinquish  it;  when  the  Almighty  himself  by  his 
sovereign  decree  has  passed  them  over,  and  has 
thus  left  them  under  a  fatal  necessity  of  sinning 
and  under  an  unconquerable  moral  inability  of 
repenting.     What  should  we  think  of  the  con- 
duct of  a  prince,  who  threw  indeed  the  doors  of 
a  prison  wide  open,  and  who  vehemently  ex- 
postulated with  those  confined  in  it  on  the  score 
of  their  madly  refusing  to  come  forth  and  accept 
of  proffered  liberty ;  if  all  the  while  he  knew 
them  to  be  attached  with  heavy  chains  to  the 
floor  of  their  dungeon,  which  they  themselves 
were  utterly  unable  to  break,  and  which  he  re- 
fused to  break  for  them  ?     Should  we  not  say, 
that  this  expostulation  served  only  to  accumu- 
late mockery  upon  punishment  ?     And  would 
not  the  mockery  be  heightened,   if  the  prince 
broke  the  chains  of  some,  and  then  remonstrated 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy.       409 

with  those  who  were  still  bound  for  not  follow- 
ing the  example  of  their  companions,  and  like 
them  leaving  their  prison-house  ?  Now  in  what 
manner  does  every  general  scriptural  expostula- 
tion differ  from  this,  when  viewed  agreeably  to 
the  Calvinistic  system  ?  God  is  represented  as 
acting  in  a  manner,  which  we  should  think  most 
extraordinary  even  in  a  fellow-mortal :  for  he 
is  exhibited,  as  vehemently  remonstrating  with 
persons  for  not  turning  to  righteousness ;  when 
he  himself  by  his  own  sovereign  decree  has 
passed  them  over,  and  has  left  them  in  that 
state  of  moral  inability  wherein  we  are  all 
equally  born  by  nature.* 

Thus  do  we  seem  to  be  beaten  away  from  the 
Calvinistic  theory,  and  to  be  thence  compelled 
to  view  the  Arminian  system  as  more  agreeable 
to  Holy  Scripture. 

*  I  have  been  informed,  with  what  truth  I  pretend  not  to 
say,  that  some  modern  Calvinistic  divines  object  to  the  em- 
ploying of  any  remonstrances  or  expostulations  from  the  pul- 
pit, on  the  express  ground,  that  they  are  superfluous  to  the 
elect  and  useless  to  the  reprobate.  On  the  predestinarian 
theory,  no  flaw  can  possibly  be  found  in  such  reasoning  :  how 
far  the  practice^  which  it  involves,  be  agreeable  to  the  prac- 
tice of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  is  quite  another  question.  If 
I  have  been  accurately  informed,  I  should  suspect,  that  these 
divines  are  much  more  accomplished  logicians  than  scriptural 
evangelists. 

Faber,     53 


410         The  Predestinarian  Controversy, 

2.  But  let  us  not  too  hastily  imagine,  that  this 
latter  hypothesis  presents  no  faulty  points.  Let 
us  in  equity  subject  it  also  to  the  same  exami- 
nation, as  that  to  which  the  former  has  been 
subjected. 

(l.)  The  principal  conclusion  of  Arminianism 
is,  that  all  men  are  placed  upon  an  exactly 
equal  footing  as  to  the  moral  possibility  of  sal- 
vation.* 

This  sounds  very  plausible :  and  we  feel  our- 
selves inclined  to  give  high  credit  to  a  system, 
which  contends  so  strenuously  for  an  apparently 
clear  point  of  absolute  equity.  But  does  such  a 
conclusion  accord  either  with  matter  of  fact  or 
with  the  declarations  of  Scripture  ? 

As  to  matter  of  fact,  without  entering  into  the 
very  difficult  question  of  the  final  state  of  the 
Heathens  or  the  Mohammedans,  will  any  sober 
person  gravely  contend  that  they  are  placed 
upon  just  as  advantageous  a  footing  as  Christians 
with  respect  to  the  means  of  insuring  their  eter- 
nal happiness  ?  If  this  be  the  case,  why  should 
the  apostles  have  been  so  anxious,  even  at  the 
expense  of  their  own  lives,  that  all  men  should 
be  converted  to  the  faith  of  Christ :  and  why 
need  we  pay  the  slightest  regard  to  any  modern 
missionary  attempts  ?     If  this  be  not  the  case, 

*  Conclusion  (2.) 


'     The  Predestinarian  Controversy.        411 

then  it  is  indisputable,  that  all  men  are  not 
placed  upon  an  exactly  equal  footing  as  to  the 
moral  possibility  of  salvation.  Nor  will  the 
matter  be  much  mended,  if  we  exclaim,  that  we 
have  no  concern  with  Heathens  and  Moham- 
medans, and  that  the  question  ought  to  be  limit- 
ed to  the  pale  of  the  Christian  Church.  Let  it 
then  be  so  limited  :  and  where  will  be  the  emo- 
lument ?  Will  any  one  pretend  to  say,  that  the 
person,  who  has  been  virtuously  brought  up  by 
truly  religious  parents,  and  who  has  been  care- 
fully instructed  in  the  principles  and  practice  of 
the  Gospel,  is  placed  by  God's  Providence  on  a 
perfectly  equal  footing  as  to  the  moral  possibility 
of  salvation  with  a  person,  who  has  been  trained 
up  to  evil  by  vicious  parents  from  his  earliest 
youth,  who  has  beheld  nothing  but  bad  exam- 
ples, and  who  has  been  left  in  a  state  of  most  de- 
plorable ignorance  as  to  the  doctrines  and  du- 
ties of  Christianity  ?  Matter  of  fact  then  de- 
cidedly shews,  that  God  has  not  made  all  men 
theologically  equal,  but  that  to  some  he  has 
given  religious  advantages  which  he  has  not 
given  to  others. 

And  with  matter  of  fact  the  declarations  of 
Scripture  will  be  found  perfectly  to  accord.  Let 
us  first  hear  what  it  says  respecting  Faith.  St. 
Paul  asserts,  that  all  men  have  not  faith  :*  and  we 

*  2  Thess.  iii.  2. 


413        The  Predestinarian  Controversy, 

need  but  cast  our  eyes  around  us  to  be  fully  sa- 
tisfied as  to  tlie  truth  of  his  assertion.  Why 
then  have  not  all  men  Faith  ?  The  Bible  as- 
sures us,  that  Faith  is  the  gift  of  God  ;  that 
Christ  is  the  author  of  our  Faith  ;  and  that,  if 
we  believe  at  all,  the  reason  is,  because  it  is 
GIVEN  us  to  believe.*  Faith  therefore  being  a 
GIFT,  it  necessarily  follows,  that  to  those  who 
possess  it,  it  has  been  given,  while  to  those  who 
possess  it  not  it  has  not  been  given.  Such  be- 
ing the  case,  all  men  are  not  placed  on  the  same 
footing  as  to  the  grace  of  Faith.  Let  us  next 
hear  what  Scripture  says  respecting  the  Will. 
Our  Lord  observes  to  the  unbelieving  Jews,  Ye 
will  not  come  to  me,  that  ye  might  have  life  :f  and 
in  the  present  day  we  may  behold  numbers  in 
the  very  same  unhappy  predicament.  But  why 
will  they  not  come  to  Christ?  The  Bible 
teaches,  that  i^  is  God  which  worketh  in  us  both 
to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure  ;  thsit  the 
Son  quickeneth  whom  he  will;  and  that  it  is 
specially  in  the  day  of  God^s  power,  that  his  peo- 
ple shall  be  willing.X  The  will  to  do  good  there- 

*  Ephes.  ii.  8.     Heb.  xii.  2.  Philip,  i.  29. 

t  John  V.  40. 

\  Philip  ii.  13.  John  v.  21.  Psalm  ex.  3.  On  such  texts 
as  these  is  built  the  tenth  Article  of  the  English  Church,  which 
rightly  maintains,  that  xve  have  no  power  to  do  good  xvorks 
pleasant  and  acceptable  to  God  xuithout  the  grace  of  God  by 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy,        413 

fore  proceeding  solely  from  God,  it  follows,  that 
they  who  have  any  such  will  have  received  it 
from  God,  while  they  who  have  it  not  have 
NOT  RECEIVED  It  from  God.  Here  again  we 
find,  that  all  men  are  not  placed  on  the  same 
footing  as  to  the  Will  to  good.  Let  us  next  at- 
tend to  the  Scripture  doctrine  of  Repentance. 
It  need  scarcely  be  remarked,  that  but  too  many 
descend  to  the  grave  without  any  sincere  Re- 
pentance for  their  sins.  Fear  of  punishment 
may  indeed  cause  them  bitterly  to  regret  their 
past  conduct ;  but  this  is  not  the  scriptural  idea 
of  Repentance ;  for  in  the  Bible  the  word  de- 
notes such  a  hearty  sorrow  on  account  of  ini- 
quity, as  involves  both  the  hatred  and  the  dere- 
liction  of  it.  But  why  have  not  all  men  this  Re- 
pentance ?  Is  it,  because  every  man  might  thus 
repent  if  he  would  ;  but  that,  all  having  it  equal- 
ly in  their  power,  some  choose  to  repent,  while 
others  do  not  choose  ?  The  scriptural  statement 
of  the  matter  is  as  different  as  possible.  We  are 
there  explicitly  taught,  that  God  and  his  Christ 
GIVE  Repentance.*  If  then  Repentance  be  a 
GIFT,  we  must  necessarily  draw  from  such  a  de- 
claration the  very  same  inference  as  we  have 

Christ  preventing  us,  that   we   may  have  a  good  willy  aiid 
xvorking  xvith  us  when  we  have  that  good  will. 

*  Acts  V.  31.  xi.  18.    2  Tim.  ii.  25. 


414        The  PredesHnarian  Controversy. 

already  drawn  from  the  similar  declaration  res- 
pecting Faith.  All  men  therefore  are  not  placed 
on  the  same  footing  as  to  Repentance.  But  even 
this  is  not  the  whole  that  may  be  gathered  from 
Scripture.  Hitherto  we  have  dealt  only  in  par- 
ticulars:  let  us  jiow  attend  to  ?i  general  proposi- 
tion. That  there  is  a  very  great  Difference  be- 
tween the  religious  and  moral  condition  of  this 
man  and  that  man,  no  one,  I  presmne,  will  ven- 
ture to  deny.  The/«c^  therefore  of  a  Diiference 
exists  :  the  only  question  is,  how  we  are  to  ac- 
count for  this  fact.  Do  men  differ  then,  because 
some  have  more  inherent  virtue  than  others, 
or  because  some  use  their  free-will  to  better 
purpose  than  others,  or  because  some  possess  a 
degree  of  resolute  fortitude  wliich  others  do  not 
possess  ?  Truly  Scripture  gives  no  such  account 
of  the  matter :  and  indeed,  if  it  did,  it  would  con- 
tradict itself:  for  we  are  expressly  taught,  that 
no  man  hath  any  thing  whereof  to  glory ;  but,  in 
this  state  of  the  case,  one  man  has  ample  reason 
to  glory  above  another.*  The  scriptural  account 
of  the  affair  is  thrown  into  an  interrogatory 
form,  which  is  quite  as  strong  and  decisive  as 
any  affirmative  one  could  have  been.  Who 
MAKETH  thee  to  differ  from  another  ?  And  what 
hast  thou,  that  thou  didst  not  receive  ?    Kow, 

1  Rom.  iv.  2.     1  Corin.  i.  29,  31. 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy,      415 

if  thou  didst  receive  it,  why  dost  thou  glory  as  if 
thou  hadst  not  received  it  ?^  It  appears  then, 
that,  v^^hatever  difference  there  may  be  between 
man  and  man,  God  maketh  this  difference  by 
certain  communications,  v^hich  some  receive, 
and  which  others  do  not  receive.  How  then 
can  all  be  placed  upon  an  exactly  equal  footing 
as  to  the  moral  possibility  of  salvation  ?  The 
ancient  national  difference  between  Jew  and 
Gentile  indeed  is  now  done  away,  and  the  Gos- 
pel is  undistinguishingly  offered  to  every  people  :t 
but  both  matter  of  fact  and  Scripture  likewise 
determine,  that,  for  whatever  reason,  a  great  in- 
dividual difference  still  exists. 

(3.)  Now,  if  this  grand  conclusion  of  Armi- 
nianism  be  invalid  5  then  whatever  is  deduced 
from  it  must  of  course  rest  upon  a  foundation 
of  sand.  But  the  falsehood  of  the  Calvinistic 
doctrine  of  Election  and  Reprobation  is  deduced 
from  it.J  Therefore  such  a  deduction  rests  not 
upon  any  solid  basis. 

In  making  this  necessary  inference,  I  would 
by  no  means  be  understood  to  vindicate  that 
characteristic  tenet  of  Calvinism.  As  for  the 
theory  of  Election  and  Reprobation,  as  expound- 


*  1  Corin.  iv.  7. 

f  Acts  XV.  7,  8,  9.     Rom.  iii.  22.  x.  12. 

+  Conclusions  (3.)  and  (4,) 


416        Tlie  Predestinanan  Controversy, 

ed  by  the  doctors  of  the  predesti?iaria7i  school,  I  no 
more  believe  it  to  be  agreeable  to  the  general 
declarations  of  Scripture  than  the  mostsystema- 
tic  Arminian  himself.  But  this  I  must  say,  that 
such  a  theory  will  never  be  confuted  by  a  train 
of  abstract  reasoning  like  that  which  has  just 
been  brought  under  discussion.  For  let  an  ar- 
gument be  managed  ever  so  logically  from  false 
premises  ;  the  premises  themselves  being  false, 
the  argument  must  needs  be  inconclusive. 

Thus,  to  a  certain  extent  at  least,  we  now  find 
ourselves  beaten  away  from  the  Arminian  hypo- 
thesis, and  thence  seem  compelled  to  view  the 
Calvinistic  system  as  more  agreeable  to  Scrip- 
ture. 

VII.  Tossed  alternately  from  one  theory  to 
the  other,  and  alike  dissatisfied  with  both,  in 
what  manner  are  we  henceforth  to  establish  the 
principles  of  our  belief?  AVe  must  even  be  con- 
tent to  relinquish  the  empty  glory  of  fabricating 
compact,  but  fallacious,  systems  of  theology:  we 
must  learn  to  submit  our  weak  understandings 
to  the  various  positive  declarations  of  the  Bible, 
though  we  may  not  always  be  able,  in  the  way 
of  abstract  reasoning,  to  point  out  their  exact 
mutual  connexion  and  coherence. 

Such  was  the  plan  adopted  by  the  venerable 
reformers  of  our  English  Church :  and,  when 
we  recollect  the  numerous    contending  sects 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy.      417 

which  flourished  contemporaneously  with  them, 
we  can  never  sufficiently  admire  their  wisdom 
and  temperance  in  steadily  refusing  to  become 
the  partizans  of  any  body  of  men,  however  loud 
might  be  their  pretensions  to  superior  light  and 
purity.     Hence,  while  the  pious  Calvinist  and 
the  pious  Arminian  may  each  with  a   perfectly 
safe  conscience  subscribe  our  Anglican  Articles  ; 
if  either  expect  to  find  his  own  party  decidedly 
condemned,  he  will  soon  perceive  himself  to  be 
grievously  mistaken.     For  what,  in  her  several 
offices,  does  the  English  Church  set  forth  ?     If 
the  Calvinist  prematurely  exult  in  the  imagined 
partiality  of  the  seventeenth  Article  to  his  own 
favourite  opinions  ;  she  cuts  him  short  in  the 
midst  of  his  triumph,  by  unequivocally  declaring 
the  doctrine   of  universal  redemption,  and  by 
guardedly  stating  that  we  must   receive   God^s 
promises  in  such  wise  as  they  be  generally  set 
forth  to  us  in  Holy  Scripture.^     If,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  Arminian  infer  from  the  doctrine  of 
universal  redemption  that  all  men  are  placed  on 
an  exactly  equal  footing ;  she  teaches  him,  quite 
regardless  of  the  consequences  so  fatal  to  his 
theory  wiiich  might   seem  necessarily  to  flow 
from  such  a  doctrine,  that  we  can  do  no  works 
pleasing  to  God  without  a  good  will,  and  that 

*  Art.  XV,  xvii,  and  Catechism  Answer  6. 

Faber.  54 


418       The  Predestinarian  Cojitroversy, 

we  can  have  no  good  will  unless  God  think  fit 
to  give  it  us.*  In  a  similar  manner  equally  re- 
gardless of  the  consequences,  she  teaches  that 
we  can  do  no  good  works  previous  to  the  re- 
ception of  Faith  by  the  inspiration  of  God's 
Blessed  Spirit ;  notwithstanding  the  production 
of  good  works  is  thus  made  to  depend  ultimate- 
ly upon  an  extrinsic  cause,  over  which  we  can 
have  no  controul  whatsoever.!  And  again,  in 
point  of  practice,  however  irreconcileable  it  may 
metaphysically  seem  with  the  doctrine  of  our 
own  inability,  our  natural  want  of  good  will,  and 
the  entire  dependence  of  our  virtuous  deeds 
upon  a  plainly  extrinsic  cause  :  in  point  of  prac- 
tice, fearless  of  being  charged  with  self-contra- 
dictoriness,  she  scruples  not  to  exhort  us,  just 
as  if  such  matters  were  entirely  in  our  own 
power,  to  repent  us  truly  for  our  sins  past,  to 
have  a  lively  and  steadfast  faith  in  Christ  our  Sa- 
viour, to  amend  our  lives,  and  to  he  in  perfect 
charity  xvith  all  men.X 

This,  I  will  be  bold  to  say,  is  the  sole  mode 
in  which  we  can  ever  arrive  at  certainty  in  mat- 
ters of  religion.  We  must  prove  all  things  by 
Scripture ;  and  hold  fast  that  which  is  good :  re- 
gardless of  the  even  opposite  conclusions,  which 


*  Art.  X.  f  Art.  xil,  xiii. 

±  Exhort.  In  Commun.  Service- 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy,        419 

might  seem  by  a  train  of  abstract  reasoning  to 
be  legitimately  deduced  from  our  several  arti- 
cles of  belief.  By  adopting  such  a  plan,  we  may 
forfeit  the  honour  and  glory  of  a  proud  syste- 
matic concinnity ;  and,  what  has  not  unfrequent- 
ly  been  the  case  with  our  venerable  mother  the 
Church  of  England,  in  the  mortal  tug  of  theo- 
logic  war  we  may  very  possibly  be  deemed  Cal- 
vinistic  by  Arminians  and  Arminian  by  Calvin- 
ists  :  but,  rejecting  each  theory  as  a  whole,  and 
determining  to  call  no  man  master  save  Christ 
alone,  we  shall  have  the  comfort  of  knowing, 
that  we  believe  nothing,  but  what  the  Bible  une- 
quivocally teaches  us  to  believe.  It  may  not 
perhaps  be  the  most  philosophical,  but  it  is  prob- 
ably the  wisest,  opinion  which  we  can  adopt,  that 
the  truth  lies  somewhere  between  the  two  rival 
systems  of  Calvin  and  Arminius ;  though  I  be- 
lieve it  to  exceed  the  wit  of  man  to  point  out  the 
exact  place,  where  it  does  lie.  We  distinctly 
perceive  the  two  extremities  of  the  vast  chain, 
which  stretches  across  the  whole  expanse  of  the 
theological  heavens ;  but  its  central  links  are 
inveloped  in  impenetrable  clouds  and  thick  dark- 
ness. After  all,  whatever  metaphysical  difficul- 
ties there  may  be  in  the  matter,  these  difficulties 
are  no  wslj peculiar  to  Christianity :  they  are,  if 
I  may  so  speak,  inherent  in  the  very  nature  of 
things  themselves.     As  mere  deists,  we  should 


430        The  Predestinarian  Controversy. 

be  equally  perplexed,  if  we  were  determined  to 
excogitate  a  compact  moral  system,  with  the  jar- 
ring points  of  fate  and  free-will,  divine  pre- 
science and  human  contingency.  This  was  felt 
long  before  the  promulgation  of  the  Gospel : 
and,  if  men  continue  to  dispute  and  draw  out 
fine  trains  of  metaphysical  reasoning  even  to  the 
very  end  of  the  world,  it  requires  not  the  gift  of 
prophecy  to  foretell,  that  they  will  be  just  as  wise 
at  the  close  as  they  were  at  the  commencement. 
VIII.  Yet  a  discussion  of  this  kind  is  not  with- 
out its  high  practical  utiUty :  much  that  is  good 
may  obviously  be  derived  from  it. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  we  may  learn  to  enter- 
tain very  humble  views  of  our  own  powers ;  and 
thence  willingly  to  submit  ourselves  to  the  deep 
things  of  God,  however  incomprehensible  they 
may  be  to  our  finite  understandings. 

2.  And,  in  the  next  place,  we  may  learn  to 
abhor  that  detestable  spirit  of  dogmatical  bigot- 
ry, which  would  presumptuously  cast  out  from 
among  the  people  of  God  all  who  cannot  re- 
ceive this  pecuharity  or  that  peculiarity  which  is 
advocated  by  this  party  or  that  party.  Far  be 
it  from  the  biblical  Christian  to  doubt,  that,  in 
the  day  when  the  Lord  of  hosts  shall  make  up  his 
jewels^  many,  both  Calvinists  and  Arminians, 
will  be  the  ornaments  of  his  spiritual  diadem. 
Will  he  then  view  those  as  heretical  enemies  in 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy.      431 

this  world,  with  whom  he  hopes  eternally  to  asso- 
ciate in  the  world  to  come  ?  That  be  far  from 
him.  Yet,  to  say  nothing  of  the  mischievous 
consequences  of  fabricating  systems  so  far  as  re- 
spects soundness  of  doctrine,  what  are  the  ef- 
fects, which  have  too  often  sprung  from  the  in- 
temperate agitation  of  the  quinquarticular  con- 
troversy ?  Violent  contentions  for  favourite 
opinions  are  frequently  the  harbingers  of  that 
bane  of  Christian  meekness  and  charity,  open 
schism.  Obscure  matters  of  doubtful  disputa- 
tion acquire  in  the  eyes  of  a  party-man  an  impor- 
tance, which  they  by  no  means  deserve.  By 
long  brooding  over  them  in  private,  by  associat- 
ing with  none  but  those  who  hold  the  same  sen- 
timents, and  by  reading  no  works  but  those 
which  are  written  on  one  side  of  the  question, 
his  passions  become  inflamed  in  proportion  as 
his  judgment  is  unexercised :  and  he  can  esteem 
none  orthodox,  save  those,  who  think  precisely 
like  himself,  and  who  admit  all  the  peculiarities 
of  his  system.  Hence  we  find,  that  a  high  Cal- 
vinist  views  an  Arminian  with  a  sort  of  undefin- 
able  prejudice  and  dislike  :  while  a  high  Armi- 
nian amply  repays  this  uncharitableness  with 
jealousy,  distrust,  and  affected  contempt.  Ac- 
cording to  the  one,  Calvinism,  unmixed  Calvin- 
ism, is  the  undoubted  doctrine  of  the  English 
Church :  according  to  the  other,  every  Calvin- 


43S         The  Predestinarian  Controversy, 

istic  divine,  however  exact  in  his  submission  to 
ecclesiastical  discipline,  is  to  be  considered  only 
in  the  light  of  a  concealed  foe,  who,  were  it  in 
his  power,  would  infallibly  overturn  our  nation- 
al hierarchy.*  The  first  terms  his  opponent  a 
doctrinal  dissenter,  because  he  cannot  subscribe 
to  all  the  dogmata  of  Calvin  ;  and  proclaims  his 
own  party  to  be  the  only  true  members  of  the 
Anglican  Church  :  the  second  returns  the  com- 
pliment by  styling  his  adversary  a  dissenter  with' 
in  the  Church,  and  by  diligently  representing  him 
as  a  reviver  of  long-forgotten  heresies  or  as  an 
enthusiastic  admirer  of  all  the  whimsical  extrava- 
gances of  Arminian  Methodism  ;  an  allegation 
scarcely  less  whimsical  than  the  extravagances 
themselves,  for  it  appears  somewhat  paradoxi- 
cal to  maintain  that  a  professedly  Jirminian  sect 
should  have  completely  won  the  heart  of  an  ob- 
stinate Calvinist.\ 

*  I  speak  of  the  7-egidar  Calvinistic. clergy,  and  of  them 
only.  Many  such  divines  I  believe  to  be  truly  pious  men, 
and  heartily  attached  to  our  excellent  constitution  both  in 
Church  and  State.  Indeed  I  never  yet  could  discover,  what 
necessary  connexion  there  is  between  speculative  Calvinism 
and  practical  Dissent.  Some  of  our  most  determined  episco- 
palians have  been  high  doctrinal  Calvinists. 

f  I  have  somewhere,  in  a  modern  work,  seen  it  gravely 
maintained,  and  stoutly  argued  upon,  through  several  succes- 
sive pages,  that  the  only  reason,  why  the  Methodists  affect  to 
charge  the  clergy  of  the  establishment  with  not  preaching  the 


The  Predestinarian  Controversy.      43 S 

Such  are  the  unhappy  disputes  of  the  present 
day :  disputes,  which  serve  only  to  irritate  the 
minds  of  the  contending  parties,  to  grieve  all 
moderate  men,  and  to  delight  the  advocates  for 
Schism  and  Infidelity.* 

.Gospel,  is,  because  they  cannot  conscientiously  inculcate  high 
Calvinism.  Now,  whatever  may  be  the  frequency  with  which 
the  Methodists  are  wont  to  urge  such  an  allegation,  the  rea- 
son assigned  most  assuredly  cannot  be  the  true  one.  The 
Methodists  are  as  decided  Arminians,  as  the  most  resolute 
high-churchman  can  be.  Hence  it  is  an  absurd  contradiction 
in  terms  to  assert,  that  the  Arminian  followers  of  Mr.  Wesley 
charge  the  regular  clergy  with  not  preaching  the  Gospel,  be- 
cause they  refuse  to  inculcate  the  doctrines  of  the  Calvinists. 
We  might  just  as  rationally  say,  that  they  make  this  charge 
against  the  clergy,  because  we  will  not  preach  Socinianism, 
In  the  true  spirit  of  this  most  unaccountable  mistake,  I  have 
likewise,  in  some  other  modem  publication,  seen  the  Calvin- 
ists charged  with  holding  the  preposterous  doctrine  of  sinless 
perfection  in  the  elect.  Never  surely  were  the  terms  sinless 
perfection  and  the  elect  so  strangely  wedded  together !  The 
doctrine  of  sinless  perfection  is  an  abortion  of  the  .Methodis- 
tic  Arminian  school,  which  shudders  at  the  very  name  of 
Election :  while  the  philosophic  Calvinist,  who  by  a  train  of 
metaphysical  reasoning  has  been  led  to  the  doctrine  of  Elec- 
tion, c^.n  only  smile  at  the  gross  ignorance,  which  would  ex- 
hibit him  as  ascribing  to  his  elect  in  this  world  a  condition  of 
immaculate  piwity.  They,  who  volunteer  to  enter  the  lists 
against  the  Methodists  on  the  one  hand  or  the  Calvinists  on 
the  other,  ought  at  least  to  learn  what  these  clashing  religion- 
ists do  maintain.  The  odd  amalgamatio7i  of  these  direct  op- 
posites,  which  it  sometimes  is  our  fortune  to  witness,  is  a  pro- 
ject much  about  as  hopeful  as  the  diligent  commixture  of  oil 
and  water. 

*  These  miserable  disputes,  with  the  same  vile  misrepre- 


434       Tfie  Predestinarian  Contrcwersy. 

If  upon  any  branch  of  Christian  diity^  they  are 
the  words  of  a  late  deservedly  lamented  prelate, 
and  would  that  the  generous  and  manly  senti- 
ment were  adopted  both  by  Calvinists  and  Ar- 
minians  !  If  upon  any  branch  of  Christian  duty 
my  conscience  he  at  perfect  ease ;  the  precept, 
Judge  not,  is  that,  which  I  trust  I  have  not  trans- 
gressed. The  motives  by  which  ojie  man  is  im- 
pelled, are  for  the  most  part  so  imperfectly  known 
to  any  other ;  that,— from  my  youth  up,  I  have 
been  averse  to  censorious  judgment  * 

sentation  on  both  sides,  prevailed  with  equal  acrimony  before 
the  breaking  out  of  the  great  rebellion.  The  matter  is  excel- 
lently stated  by  Lord  Clarendon.  History  of  Rebell.  b.  i. 
p.  144.     Oxon. 

*  Bp.  Horsley's  Remarks  on  Priestley's  second  Letters, 
p.  86. 


END    OF    VOL.    I. 


dt 


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